Two Children, No Parents
by amatorius48
Summary: A post ATU fic. After everyone has gone about their life, Max is left poor and unwilling to let go of his irresponsible ways. But when a surprise trouble knocks on his door will a little girl be able to help change his life?
1. Little Child

Ugh, this was a lot better sounding in my head. The you get it down on paper, and the whole thing falls apart. Oh well, hope you enjoy nonetheless.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own a gosh darn thing, not even Cap'n Crunch (except Anna, but then I don't even own that really), I'm just posting this because I love what I don't own. So please don't sue.

Rated for sexual things and cussing, and maybe some other things I've forgotten.

**Across the Universe  
The ATU Story Without A Beatle's Song in the Title  
Or  
Two Children, No Parents.**

_Years passed for Jude and Lucy after that magical day on the roof. Time flew by and they watched as all of their lives slowly began to change. Sadie and Jojo became famous and traveled around the continent. Prudence became a successful author ( Her most recent book being called "She Said She Said") and traveled around doing book signings. It was only Max who refused to let go of his pot smoking, playboy, carefree days of the years before. Lucy and Jude both tried to help him get his life together, but Max was so stubborn, he wouldn't give in. After Lucy and Jude decided to adopt a little girl, they stopped focusing on Max and let him be. They rarely ever saw each other. It was only those few occasions that they came to see Max _Carrigan_…_

Max lazily shifted his position in his bed, one arm stretched out past the mattress, fingers dangling over the edge, and the other wrapped around the body of a gorgeous, totally naked, blonde. The girl let out a sigh and began to rub her hand over Max's chest. Looking up at him she smiled. "Good morning."

Max gave her a sloppy smile back. "G'moring to you too, gorgeous." The blonde rolled over away from Max, leaving him wishing it wasn't morning. Even more so after he heard a gasp.

"Shit! Eleven?" She cried, tossing the blankets from her as she rushed out of bed. "You let me sleep this late?"

Max watched the naked girl as she stepped carefully around the room trying to avoid the bachelors dirty clothe, cigarette butts, and half eaten food that were strewn across the floor. "Sorry babe, my clock doesn't have alarm on it." The girl continued her quicken pace, pulling up a pair of tight jeans and nearly falling over as she did. Max grinned and scooted over until he sat on the end of the bed. He reached for a pair of dirty boxers and pulled them over his hips. By the time he had gotten that much done, the woman was already in his bathroom checking her hair in the only mirror in the house.

"So you wanna come over tonight?" He said, leaning against the doorframe of the bedroom as she began to look for her purse.

"Can't. I got work early tomorrow, I need my sleep…that is…if I still have a job."

Max walked over to her as she put her last shoe on and wrapped his arms around her waist from the back. "You could sleep here." He said, kissing her neck. She moaned slightly in pleasure and turned around to face him.

"If it's anything like last night, I wont be getting sleep." She pushed away from him and he stepped back.

"So this is it?" He said, a hint of agitation in his voice.

"Well.. Yeah" She said as she put her hand on the doorknob. "What do you think a one night stand is?" Max watched as the blonde shut the door, giving him one last drop dead gorgeous smile before she did.

"I don't know." He mumbled to himself as he made his way into the kitchen for breakfast.

* * *

Max tossed a pile of unsorted clothe into the washer at the laundry mat. If he was going to get any sort of a job he was going to need some clean clothes. While he waited for his laundry to be done, he looked through some of the adds that were hung on a wall. "Mechanic, burger flipper, used car guy, ….ooh, nude model." He chuckled as he ripped off the paper and stuffed it in his pocket for safe keeping. Max sat back down and tried to imagine himself as a nude model. An entire class would see him, totally naked. "_Draw me even_." He thought to himself "_Every part_." Maybe he'd even became a famous painting like the Mona Lisa or something.

While thinking on this subject, his mind absently wondered to thoughts of Jude. He was a great artist. Of course Jude usually only drew Lucy, but once in a while he would use Max as practice. A sad look crossed his face as he thought about all they had been through together. "_Now they hardly even talk to me_." He thought. "_And all they do is nag. 'get a job' blah blah blah. Just like in college, only it's my OWN sister. Ever since that kid came along_." He thought about how Lucy had said it would be bad for his niece to hang around him. How she would pick up on his bad habits. "Bad influence, HA!" He said out loud, getting strange glances from people. Max grabbed his clothe from the washer and placed them in the dryer.

After finding out that the nude modeling didn't pay, Max spent the rest of the afternoon grabbing applications at any old store. Around three, Maxed stopped at a café to have something to eat. When he was finished, he noticed that his pockets were empty. Carefully waiting for the clerk to disappear to the back room, Max hastily made his get away. He felt bad for doing that, like he always did, but when you don't have money, you don't have money. It was a lame excuse, and he knew it. He could have washed dishes or something to pay for his meal, but in the back of his mind he knew he was just a lazy, no good, bum.

The evening was spent like it always was for Max. (if he wasn't spending his nights at the clubs) With his feet propped up on the kitchen table, A deck of cards was held in his hands, trying to toss each one into an old college hat. A bowl of leftover Chinese food from the night before teetered dangerously at the edge of the counter. He had already flipped through the channels on his crappy TV (all two of them) And a shower just sounded like a bigger monthly bill. Reluctantly, Max headed for bed, dreadfully anticipating the haunting war dreams that plagued him every night.

_It was cold. Tropical plants surrounded Max, but it was freezing out, like he was in the middle of a blizzard. Max was stretched out on the ground, arms bended in front of him as he crawled along the icy grass. He didn't no where he was going, but he felt an urgency to move, to get somewhere. _

_The sound of gunfire filled his ears. It was blurry, like hearing it from underwater. Lager explosions sounded from a distance, along with screams of terror. His heart racing and the urgency in his mind growing, Max tried to quicken his crawl along the ground. He only mad it so far when he felt he couldn't go any further. craning his head around his shoulder, he saw what was holding him back. Chains tied around his feet stretched back farther then Max could see. They were pulled to their limit and he could move forward no more. Off in the distance was a tiny greenish blur. Max had to squint to see that it was the statue of liberty. _

_Suddenly Max was upright, chained still, only this time to the statue itself. A firing squad of six Vietcong men stood before him, their gums aimed and ready. Max squeezed his eyes shut, thinking a heart attack would kill him before a shot was even fired. Silence screamed in his ears, and then the sound of the guns being loaded. _

"_Aim…"  
"Fire!" _

BAM BAM BAM

Max shot up from his bed, his eyes wide with terror. He clutched his heart, desperately trying to slow it's pace. Sweat rolled of his forehead and stung his eyes. His sheets were soaked from it, too.

BAM BAM BAM

Max jumped again, startled, and looked over at his clock. 6:0 5. Who the hell was knocking on his door at this hour? Already being wide awake, he decided to answer it, if for nothing more then to cuss at the person.

"Hey pal, what's with the loud shi-" He cut his sentence short when he had the door open all the way. For a moment he stood there, unsure of what to do. And since his mind wouldn't work for him he just chose to ask the obvious. "Jude?"

"Yeah." He said simply. Lucy was with him, too. And had Max bothered to look down he would have noticed a rather small, rather seven year old looking child with them as well.

Max stepped aside to let the couple in. Mentally he prepared himself for another lecture about his irresponsible ways and sloppy living conditions. It was bound to come up, no matter the reason they were here.

"We're not… interrupting anything, are we?" Asked Jude as he peeked his head around Max in the direction of his bedroom. Max shut the door to the outside.

"Just my own beauty sleep." He said, rubbing his eyes. When Jude said nothing else he turned to his sister. "Hey Luce, it's been so long and not even a hug?" Lucy smiled and embraced her brother in a short hug. Jude and Max also gave each other a pat on the back.

"So what's up?" Max made his way to the kitchen. "You want something to drink?" Max began to get glasses out from the cupboard, only to realize they were all dirty. Much to his relief neither of them seemed to want anything to drink.

"Actually, we have a favor to ask." Said Lucy

Max, who was now finally coming out of his sleepy state of mind, turned around and noticed the little girl clinging to her father's shirt. His eyes widened and a wide grin spread across his lips.

"Annie! Jeez, I didn't even notice you, come give your uncle Max a hug." Max spread his arms wide and knelt down to the seven year olds view. Letting go of her father she returned the hug and the shaggy hair blonde lifted her up in his arms.

"So what's this about a favor?" He said as he stood up and looked at Lucy. His sister cast a glace at Jude before speaking.

"Actually, it's about Anna."

"Oh?" Max was intrigued now. They hardly ever came to visit and now they wanted something from him? From the serious atmosphere Max hoped it wasn't something related to her health. He barely had enough money to support himself, let alone pay for doctor bills.

"Yeah, we were wondering if you wouldn't mind babysitting her for a while."

Max smiled in relief. Thank God. "Hey, no prob. I'd love to baby-sit the tyke. You need just the day to yourself or something? I don't remember it being any sort of anniversary."

"Actually," Started Jude (What was with the actuallys?) "We'll be gone a month."

"What?" Max bent down to let go of Anna, who had suddenly become very heavy. "I can't take care of a kid for a month. No fu-reaking way." He said, avoiding cussing in front of his niece at the last moment.

"Common Max." Pleaded a desperate Lucy. "Daycares can't do this kind of stuff, and you know what our parents would try to do to her."

"Naw, no." Said Max, backing away from them. "Don't you common Max me. You spent the last seven, eight years criticizing me and my life, and now you want to put a little kid smack-dab in the middle of it?"

"You know we wouldn't do this normally, but it's Jude's only chance. This could be a big brake for him. A chance to get some big bucks for his art. But he has to be there in person if we want the deal."

"Where?"

"Missouri." Answered Jude "I need Luce to be there with me, but it's just to much to take Anna with us."

"Whatever happened to "irresponsible Max"?"

"Please?" begged Lucy, giving him a pouty lip.

Max put his hands in his face and rubbed up and down. Finally he let his hands drop at his sides and looked up, his eyes darting from Lucy to Jude and back to Lucy. With a defeated sigh he said, "Fine." Lucy went to hug him but he put a hand up. "But I want no more complaining about my life after this. And by God it better only be a month!"

"Thank you!" Said Lucy as she gave her brother a squeeze. Jude left to get his daughter's things. He returned with a rolling suitcase(Covered in sparkles), a backpack (Also covered in sparkles) and a purse.

"Be good for Uncle Max." Said Lucy as she hugged her daughter. Anna hugged her mom back and then her dad.

"Mummy and daddy will be back before you know it. You'll have a blast with Uncle Max, you wont even notice we're gone."

"Please be careful, Max." Lucy said to him, looking directly in his eyes. Max reassured her with a smile.

"Yeah, sure."

After saying goodbye on last time, Jude and Lucy left their kid behind them and shut the door. Once halfway down the stairs Lucy stopped.

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing? Maybe we should take her with us after all."

Jude rapped an arms around his wife's shoulder and kissed her on top of the head. "Max may be a bugger, but he has a good heart. This'll be good. For the both of them."

* * *

Max stood by the window and watched until his sister's car drove out of sight. Letting the curtains fall back into place, he let out a long, exasperated groan and sat down on the couch with a plop_. "I can't believe I'm doing this." _He thought to himself _"I can't believe they're LETTING me do this."_ When he looked up he saw a little Anna in front of him, staring at him. "Well, I guess it's just you an' me, kiddo." The little girl continued to stare at him.

Max yawned, suddenly aware of how tired he was. "Hey, listen kid. Your mommy woke me up very early today, so I'm just gonna go lay in bed for a while. You can stay out here and play dolls or watch TV or something, K'?"

"Mommy says early to bed early to rise makes a person healthy wealthy and wise." Stated the girl matter-of-factly. Max looked at Anna in disbelief. What were they teaching this kid?

"And where did your mommy get that shit, off a cereal box?"

Anna cupped a hand over her mouth at the mention of a cuss word. Inwardly, Max flinched. Outwardly, he rolled his eyes. "All I need is one hour. Just one hour. Then we can do something together alright?" The little girl nodded and Max padded off to his room, shutting the door behind him.

Almost exactly an hour later Max woke up with a start again. This time not from banging at the door, but from a loud crash coming from the kitchen. Max leaped out of bed and dashed toward the kitchen. He found Anna standing on the counter over the sink. All the cupboards were opened and a pile of broken glass and Chinese food was splattered on the floor. Max cursed to himself.

"What are you doing?" He cried. The little girl turned and looked at him, her face was in a an expression of shock.

"I was getting a bowl for my cereal." She said, pointing to a box of Cap'n Crunch that was laying on it's side on the table, some of its contents spilling onto the floor.

"As if my house wasn't a big enough mess." He said, moving to the table and setting the box right side up.

"Apartment." Anna corrected.

"Whatever. Anyway, all the bowls are dirty, so you'll have to wash one." Max grabbed his niece and set her down on the kitchen tile. He then grabbed a bowl from the sink and began to wash it. "Like so." After pouring a bit of cereal for Anna, who was now sitting at the table, he went to the fridge and grabbed the carton of milk. The jug was light and when he poured, only a little came out, covering just the bottom of the bowl, which the cereal easily soaked up. Anna looked up at her uncle, expecting more. "Sorry." He said and threw the carton of milk into an overflowing trash can. Max began to walk back to his room until he was stopped by Anna's small voice.

"Eh-hem."

Max turned around to see Anna throw her hands up and gave him a look that said "well!?". Sighing, Max grabbed a spoon from a drawer and handed it to the girl. When she began to eat he trudged even slower back to his room. This was going to be a looong month.

Once again sleep didn't last long for Max. Anna begged him to play with her, which he responded to with a grunt. It wasn't until after she started jumping up and down on his bed that he finally got up. They played stuffed animals for a while, Max was lazily stretched out on the couch, like a bottle of toothpaste that was oozing out its gel. He held the little toy in his hand and responded only when Anna spoke to his animal. When she finally gave up on the possibility of her uncle acting remotely interesting they moved to the next thing until she decided just to watch TV.

Max took her to his interview at the fast food restaurant that afternoon (taking a long shower beforehand) and walked her around town a bit. This time he remembered to grab a few bucks to pay for some lunch.

By the time evening came around Max was completely exhausted. Dinner was some frozen burritos that were still cold on the inside. Anna only ate half of hers then excused herself and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed without even being told.

While she was brushing her teeth, Max decided to figure out sleeping arrangements. He didn't have a cot or anything, so she couldn't sleep in his room. He figured she could park it on the couch, but thought better of it when he remembered how much noise the neighbors on that side made. It would mostly likely freak her out, cause it sure as hell freaked him out.

Suddenly having a great idea, he rushed to his room and started digging through his mess. What he found was a sort of a netted blanket. Stretching it from one end of the room to the other, he latched it to some hooks that were already there from before. "Perfect." He said at the sagging hammock type thing. Anna opened the door of the bathroom and was immediately greeted by her sleeping quarters. "Okay so it'll be a little hard to get to the bathroom. No big deal we'll just go through the kitchen way." Anna didn't say anything and ducted under the hammock to get to her suitcase. She pulled out a blanket about the size of her and climbed up into her temporary bed. Max brought her a pillow and another larger blanket.

Max leaned down to kiss Anna goodnight when he suddenly stopped, a wave of awkwardness sweeping over him. He smiled nervously at her and lifted his head back up. A look of longing crossed the little girls face, but Max ignored it and crawled into bed, wondering why he couldn't even kiss his own niece.

* * *

"Uncle Max."

Max heard his name being whispered, like an angel calling his name. A very short, very young angel. Max flipped over and pried his eyes open to look at the figure that stood at the edge of his bed. For a minute he laid there, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. He looked at the clock and saw that it was well into the night, or morning, depending how one looked at it.

"Uncle Max." The voice said again. Max could now see Anna's figure standing in front of him.

"Annie?" He asked in a sleepy voice. "What is it?"

Anna stood fidgeting with her fingers, a look of embarrassment on her face. "I wet the bed." She said in a low voice.

"You what, hun?" He said, not quit hearing or understanding. The little girl leaned in closer, like she was afraid of someone else hearing her.

"I…I wet the bed."

Max closed his eyes, drowsiness still clouding his mind. "Don't you get over that at, like, two?" Anna stared at the ground, and Max realized he had made her feel bad. "Okay. Don't worry about it. We'll fix it." The blonde reached his arms and turned on the bedside lamp. Once again he found himself unwillingly prying himself from his warm bed.

First he grabbed the hammock by the corners and placed it in the shower for dealing with later. Then he told Anna to undress while he got her a new pair of pajamas and undies. When Anna exited the bathroom, Max motioned for her to come over to the bed. She did so quickly, trying to steer clear of his dirty clothe and other stuff lying on the ground. Max helped her onto his lap and began to stroke her red locks of hair.

"So what's with the bed wetting?" He asked, trying to be nice but then not really caring all the same. "The bathroom is two inches from your bed."

" I guess, I guess…I was scared." She said.

"Scared?" He said, compassion filling his voice. "Of what?"

"The dark." She said quietly. Max roped her into a firm hug and rocked her back and forth. He hadn't thought of that. And why would he? He certainly wasn't. And he didn't bother to try to think back to that age, when he was scared of the dark. He just assumed she was like her mother, which was dumb because they weren't even really related.

"Don't worry Annie," He reassured her. "I'll protect you." He grabbed for the covers. "You can sleep with me tonight." The little girl nodded and crawled in next to her uncle Max, who turned off the light and put an arm around her, drawing her in close. His nose buried itself into her hair, and within the next minute he fell asleep, the smell of strawberry shampoo filling his lungs.

* * *

I** know the plot is weak, but I just needed Lucy and Jude out of the way in a no death sort of way. Hopefully the next chapters will be better? Plot suggestions, what you did/didn't like, are the character true to themselves. Anything like that would be greatly appreciated in a review. Or if it's crap I'll just stop where I am XD . Thanks people!**


	2. Paperback Writer

-1Sorry for the wait people. Apparently I'm one of those slow-to-update people. But I have an excuse. I hurt my back, and then my elbow, which doesn't sound like such a bad thing, but it hurt to sit in this chair with my back hurt, then it hurt to lift my arm when I bashed my elbow. Okay so not the best excuse, but still.

Thank you for all the wonder reviews! I appreciate them immensely, whether they're praise, critic, I loved reading everyone of them.

Unfortunately, this story is kinda one sided, isn't it? With Max being the only ATU character. ; So this story may be short lived, depending on how far I can get on one character inspiration. ;)

**Across The Universe  
Two Children, No Parents**

**Chapter 2**

Anna crawled out of bed early that morning, wriggling from her uncles grip. Max grunted in his sleep and rolled over, pulling the sheets further up to his neck. Looking at the clock and figuring that she had let him sleep in plenty, Anna leaned across the bed and tapped her uncle on the shoulder. The blonde didn't make a sound and continued to sleep. Anna crawled back onto the bed and leaned over Max. She watched him sleep for a minute, his face was in a frown, like he was in pain. His bangs covered parts of his eyes and the girl brushed them with her little fingers behind his ears. Leaning closer she whispered, "Uncle Max. Uncle Max wake up."

No movement.

Anna sighed and proceeded to stand up on the lumpy bed. She jumped up and down a few times and shouted "Wake up, wake up!"

Max's eyes shot open and his body was being tossed around. "What the hell!" He said, trying to figure out what was happening. He grabbed Anna's ankle and pulled her down on the bed with a WHOMP. "What are you doing?"

"It's time to get up." She said simply and bounced off the bed.

"I could get in a lot of trouble for making too much noise so stop it." He grabbed his sheets and laid back down, covering his face with them.

Anna snorted in frustration. "Common, uncle Max, wake up!"

"No." He said from under the covers. The little girl crossed her arms over her chest then walked to the end of the bed. With one large yank, she stripped the sheet right off of her uncle. Max shot up and frowned at her with a look of death. Anna grinned slyly and wrapped the sheet around her, twirling around in the room. Max let out a groan of displeasure but got up anyway. It was futile to fight the little demon.

Max walked to the kitchen rubbing his eyes. They ate the rest of the Cap'n Crunch and the blonde decided to make a shopping list, since the fridge was generally empty. He rummaged though some drawers but found no paper for his list. Giving up, he sat down across from Anna and ate his breakfast. Anna ate with her body leaning over the table, legs swinging back and forth. Her strawberry hair was in disarray, frizzing out in wild directions.

"Uncle Max?" She said with a mouth full of Crunch.

"Huh?" was his reply.

"How come your room is so messy? Doesn't anyone tell you to clean it?"

"Nope. When you're my age you can do whatever you want." He said not looking up from his cereal.

"Oh. Uncle Max?"

"Hmm?"

"How come you only have Capn Crunch for breakfast?"

"Cause I don't have any money to buy other stuff." He said, a hint of impatience in his voice.

"Oh……Uncle Max?"

"What?!" He said, finally looking up at her, eyes blazing. She grinned.

"Does that annoy you?"

Max let out an amused grunt, his lips forming into a half smile, half warning glance. "Go get dressed you brat."

Anna hopped down from her seat, making the legs screech along the tile in the process, and went to the bed room to change. Max got up and put their dishes in the sink, contemplating washing them for a split second before walking over to the couch.

Later, Max stepped into the shower (removing the netted hammock first) and dressed into a plain blue tee and jeans. No more walking around in his underwear for him. When he emerged from the bathroom he found Anna on the floor, her back to the couch and her face looking up at the ceiling, clearly bored. Max turned on the TV and stepped over Anna, plopping onto the couch. The girl sighed and turned around, watching her uncle watch TV. At first he ignored her, but as her stare got more intense he couldn't help but let his eyes flicker her way.

"What?" He said finally.

"I'm bored!" She whined to him.

"Didn't you bring a backpack stuffed full of toys? Go play with those."

"I don't wanna play with those toys. I want to draw."

"Then go draw." He said waving her away.

"I didn't bring any paper. Or pencils."

"Well good luck finding some." He said and Anna didn't ask anymore questions, deciding that that was all she was going to get out of him. It was time to take things into her own hands. Sneaking into his room - their room - she started searching around for some paper and possibly a pencil. What she found was an old tub of toothpaste, a box of leftover pizza that she quickly dropped, a pile magazines that had pictures of girls in bathing suits on the front, and an old dried up piece of gum that was stuck to the carpet. But no paper.

Taking her search to the bathroom she found a notebook and a pencil in one of the drawers. She peered through it first, to make sure he wasn't using it for anything important but there appeared to be nothing written in it at all. Shrugging, she headed back to the living room to draw on her newfound paper from the bathroom. Go figure.

After several minutes, Max unfixed his eyes from the television to see what she was doing. When he looked down to see her drawing she quickly covered it up with her hands.

"Hey! I want to see what you're drawing." He said smiling. Anna shook her head.

"hu-uh. You gotta wait until it's finished." Max playfully rolled his eyes and laid his head against the arm rest. After a moment of silence Anna asked a question.

"What's that?"

The blonde lifted his head and followed his gaze in the direction of her pointed finger, his eyes landing on a bong in the corner of the room. "That's a umm.. A flower vase." He stuttered, thinking quickly.

"Oh." Was all she said and Max was thankful she didn't ask any questions, like as to why it was sitting in the corner or why it didn't carry any flowers in it.

After a few minutes of hearing the scratch of Anna's pencil as she worked on her drawing, Max slowly drifted off, not quit asleep but his mind wondering off in all sorts of directions. He was just about to drift off to wonderland when he felt a presence hovering. When he opened his eyes, Anna's face was right in his, her hair just barely brushing over his forehead.

"Shit!" He said at the sight and sat up, slightly whacking Anna's forehead as he did. He rubbed his own and looked at her. She seemed to be in pain for a moment but quickly recovered, putting her hands on his knees.

"Can we go to the library today uncle Max?" She pleaded, removing her hands from his knees and standing up straight, waiting for his answer. Max leaned his head forward and rubbed his temples.

"I don't have any money to go to the library, Annie."

Anna crossed her eyes in exasperation, her shoulders slumped and she dropped to her knees to try to get in her uncles face. "The library doesn't cost any money uncle Max." She said shaking her head. Max gave her a blank stare, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks. Anna looked at him with big eyes and a pout on her lip until her uncle's lips formed a small grin.

"Fine." He said and she jumped up and down, all excited, then ran to their room. "What're you doing?" He asked as he watched her through the open door. She grabbed her backpack and dumped it's contents onto the floor. She came back with it strapped on her back.

"I needed a book bag." She said happily, standing near the door. Max stood up and grabbed his car keys from a hook in the kitchen and headed out the door, locking it on the way out. The two got into the car, Anna protesting that it wasn't safe for her to sit in the front seat, and Max telling her that she'd be fine. This resulted in a look from the girl that stated that was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. She sat in the seat behind Max.

Getting to the library took longer then expected, since Max forgot to check to see where it was located. He insisted he knew where it was, but Anna knew better then to trust the word of her uncle. She was no dummy!!

They finally "found" the library, and the first thing Anna did was head straight for the kids section. Max looked around the large building, secretly in awe of how many books there were. Having nothing else to do he followed Anna to the children's room.

"Look at all this shit." He said and was immediately shushed by several people, including Anna.

"You gotta be quiet in a library, uncle Max." She whispered.

"Oh, sorry." He said making a face.

"Why don't you go look around elsewhere." She suggested, taking a hold of his hand and giving it a pat. Max gave an amused snort at her grown up demeanor and was about to tell her not to act like that, but instead just smiled and nodded, heading in the direction of the stairs.

Max browsed through the aisles of books, absently gazing at random titles while he walked, not really caring one way or another. Suddenly he passed over a collection of books that had anatomy in the title. His eyes bounced back to the set of books, familiar of the words. He knew the word, obviously, he was a Ivy League drop-out after all, but the words meant more then that. He remembered countless times when Jude would talk endlessly about art, using the word "anatomy" frequently. Max smirked at the thought of his mind wondering sometimes during these talks. He tried to be a good friend, but sometimes it was just so hard to stay focused.

Casually, Max reached for one of the books and opened it, flipping briskly though the pages. His face lit up and he closed the book, looking to see if anyone was watching. Again he opened the book (more cautiously this time) and his grin widened. He now understood why Jude liked art so much. This wasn't a dirty thing, Max told himself. He was just admiring the human body. Jude did it all the time, (admire bodies that is) especially that of Lucy's. Taking another book from the shelf, Max began to casually walk downstairs.

He found Anna coming out of the kids section right as he came down the stairs. She waved to him, her backpack filled to the top. "Are you getting books, too" She said while she tried to see what he held. "Yep." Said Max, hiding them from her sight and guiding her to the checkout counter. She gave him a frown but moved along nonetheless.

Anna checked out her books first, Max right behind. "I don't have a library card." He said to the librarian with cat eye glasses and black hair tided back into a bun.

"That's alright. To get one all you need to do is fill out an application." She grabbed a piece of paper from the table and handed it to Max, who started to fill it out. "The process takes about two weeks then we mail your card to your address, and _voila, _hundreds of books at your fingertips." She smiled an overly happy smile.

"So I can't rent books today?" He said flashing her a charming grin.

"I'm sorry sir, but two weeks is the best I can do."

"Eh, never mind, then." He said scooting the paper back to her and setting his anatomy books on the counter. "You wouldn't mind putting these back for me them would you doll?"

The librarian grabbed the books and looked at him. "You're an artist?"

"I doodle." He said nonchalantly. "Why, do artists get to rent without little cards?"

"I'm afraid not, sir." She placed the books in some mysterious place under the counter.

"Hey buddy." Said someone behind Max "would you mind hurrying it up? Some of us have things we could be doing."

"Yeah yeah we're going." He gave the librarian a wink and turned around, Anna at his heals. Max burst open the doors to the outside and started down the stairs to his car. "Man, what a bunch of pricks." He said more to the air then to Anna. "And did you see that chick?" He looked down at his niece and gave her bug eyes "Who wears glasses like that anymore?"

"I thought she was pretty." mused Anna. Max stopped in front of his car and searched his pockets for his keys.

"Yeah, well you can be the hottest thing in town and still be a jerk." He opened the car door for Anna and she got in, stopping to look at her uncle.

"You mean like you?" She grinned.

"oh 'ha ha'." He said sarcastically, and shut the door tightly once she was all the way in.

* * *

Later that day Max tried his hand at cooking lunch for Anna. The process consisted of Max spouting profanities to the air while hurting himself, and an unrecognizable pile of food. They made sandwiches instead. After lunch Max decided to wash a few dishes while Anna sat at the table with her new books from the library.

"Uncle Max, could you help me?" Asked Anna from her spot at the table. Max turned around and wiped his soapy hands on his pants.

"With what?" He sat down across from his niece.

"I can't do this one." She said handing him a book with a picture of a origami crane. A few mishaps were scattered about the table. Max reached for a piece of notebook paper and began to follow the instructions in the book. A few minutes later and Max was hunched over his "creation" with a look of pure hatred in his eyes.

"No, this goes here," He mumbled to himself, glancing from the book to his paper "it, wont line up….no no….damn it…..what the hell does that mean?…damnit!"

Just then the phone rang and Max tossed the paper crane across the table, it landing on the floor. "Hello?" He said without trying to hide the irritation in his voice.

"Mr. Carrigan?" the man on the other end said.

"Yes?" He said, his eyes lighting up as the man informed him of his new job. Max hung up the phone with a big grin on his face. "Yes!" He said as he moved his arms in triumph. Anna was grinning, too, if only because her uncle was excited.

"Who was that?" She asked, Max giving her a rub on the head.

"I got a job." He said proudly.

"What kind of job?"

"Burger flipper." He said more cautiously. Anna's smile didn't lessen and Max was relieved she didn't make any wise cracks about his job. Not that he cared what a little girl thought about him…

"Should we celebrate?" Suggested Anna, getting down from her seat.

"Like with booze?" He smirked. She gave him a playful eye roll.

"No. We should go somewhere!"

"We just went to the library."

"Let's go to the park." She said while ignoring his comment. She ran to their room and grabbed her shoes and a hair tie. "Well come on!" She exclaimed while passing him to get her jacket. Max wasn't sure whether to scold her for pushing him around or to just shut up and take her to the park. It was better then hanging out in their boring apartment, he supposed, and especially better then making stupid paper thingies. Max grabbed his shoes and followed Anna down to his car.

It was perfect summer weather for a day at the park. And apparently a few other dozen families thought so, too. They had to settle for a spot in the sun and Max shooed Anna off to play on the playground.

The grass felt nice and warm on Max's back. A little itchy, but he didn't mind. It reminded him of the times he spent in his parent's backyard playing with Lucy, so long ago.

Max watched Anna play on the monkey bars as he started to doze off. With his eyes half closed, and his head being baked by the sun's rays, Max's vision started to blur. At first he could still see a little girl in jeans and a pink shirt, but the more he watched the more she changed. Soon she was a little Vietnam girl, with dirt covering her clothe. The playground became a jungle. Max watched in horror, unable to wrench his mind away from the scene playing before him. The girl came his way, stopping over his head and looked down on him with a curious glance. He saw her lips move but all he could hear was a roaring in his ears. It became cold suddenly, and Max's head lolled backward before he was completely submerged in darkness.

* * *

**I have never been to NYC library, or NYC for that matter. Sorry if the description is wrong. Do they even have kids sections? I don't know, so I just based it off of my own, tiny library. Sorry!! **

**Okay so boring chapter. I promise next chapter will have more drama. Also, the whole Max passing out thing seems a bit unreal, since I read something has to trigger it usually. Oh well, I'm just flying by the seat of my pants. Please review!!!**


	3. Cry Baby Cry

Ugh, this was a really, really hard chapter to write. I thought "stop messing with it or you'll make it worse" so here it is! Sorry for the choppiness of it, it was hard to make the segments flow.

That being said, My next chapter will** not** be out as soon as the pervious ones. I have a big project for school that I need to get done, so I have to (obviously) work on that. :(

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, I read ALL the comments at least once a day, if not more. :D

* * *

Across the Universe  
Two Children, No Parents  
Chapter 3 

It was like being on the beach blind, the sound of waves crashing on the shoreline, roaring loudly then sinking back to it's origin. Max tried to wake up, feeling hopelessly lost between two worlds. On one side, the warm sun pelting down on him while a distant, familiar voice called out to him. One the other side was panic, fear, and hopelessness. He tried harder to force himself out of unconsciousness. He had to wake up.

"Uncle Max." sobbed a voice, calling him awake. There was brightness. Then, he finally knew where he was. Anna was above him, tears rolling down her cheeks from eyes that were filled with worry. There was another person, too. A girl, towering over him like Anna.

"You alright?" She asked. Max groaned, not in any hurry to reply, and slowly propped himself up on his elbows. He was almost knocked back down, though, when Anna came rushing into him, hugging him deathly tight. Max looked up at the woman, confused as to what just happened.

"I saw her come over to you." explained the woman, "But she started to panic when you wouldn't wake up." Max looked down at Anna who was still hugging him around the waist. "Should I call an ambulance?" She asked with worry.

"No, I'm fine." He said with uncertainty. Tapping Anna on the shoulder he said, "Come on Annie, I'm fine, I just dozed off for a sec'." He added a chuckle at the end in attempts to lighten the mood. Anna moved away from her uncle, rubbing her tear soaked eyes with a fisted hand. Max tried to stand, and it took him a few tries before he took the hand of the woman. "Thanks." He muttered. "Go get your things Annie, and we'll head home." Anna hesitated, like she was making sure it was okay to leave him, then ran off to get her backpack.

"You sure you're okay?" Asked the woman. "You don't need, like, a hug or anything, do you?" Max turned his concentration from Anna to the woman.

"What?"

"Ah, umm, never mind." She said, giving him a awkward pat on the back. Max opened his mouth to say something, but felt a pull on his arm and turned to see Anna looking up at him. When he looked back, the woman was briskly walking away.

"Do you know that woman?" Asked Anna as she walked with a little hop-step to keep up with Max's long strides, holding his hand the whole time.

"Psh, in another life, maybe." He joked.

"I think she's pretty."

"You think everyone's pretty." He said as he opened the car door for Anna.

"No you!" She smirked and Max shut her door and climbed into the drivers seat, a huge headache forming.

They drove back to the apartment and Max unhooked a single key from his key ring, giving it to Anna. "Here, you go on upstairs and I'll be there in a sec." Anna looked up at her uncle and her gaze told him she had a lot of questions. Taking the key from her uncle, she bit her lip and gave him one last worried look before heading up the stairs. "And lock the door after you get in!" Called Max up the stairs. Once he heard the door shut, he headed for his car and rummaged inside the backseat for a long minute. Once he found what he was looking for, he searched his pockets for his lighter and lit the joint he had found in his car. He knew it was risky smoking it in plain view, but nobody really noticed in that neighborhood.

Max drew in the smoke earnestly, letting it calm his mind and ease his headache. Life was so fucked up. _He_ was so fucked up. Ever since coming home from Vietnam he had been plagued with memories. Evil hallucinations. At least when he hallucinated while on drugs it wasn't the same kind of shit he experienced now.

After a few minutes he snuffed out his pot and headed up the stairs. He could feel his mood worsen with every step, probably due to the drug. He knocked on the door and told Anna to open up, which she did. He sloppily ruffled her hair while she looked up at him with the same, worried eyes as before.

When he walked into the kitchen he suddenly stopped. At first he let out a small chuckle, until it slowly built into a hysteric chortle. "What is that?" He asked through giggles, pointing to his bong, that was now the centerpiece for the table and was filled with an assortment of flowers.

Anna was starring at him like he was crazy, but quickly explained. "I found them at the park. I thought they would cheer you up."

Max chuckled again, his grin widening. "You are one wicked cool chick, you know that, Annie?" His niece nodded matter-of-factly which made Max laugh even harder.

"Are you okay uncle Max?" Asked the little girl, her eyes wide with skepticism.

"Yeah, sure" He said dismissively. "I just need to go…umm…I need to do…." His voice trailed off, unable to complete a sentence. He walked off to his room and shut the door, leaving a little Anna alone in the kitchen, utterly confused.

* * *

Max had a hard time making dinner that night, and he noticed Anna watch on in utter horror, terrified for her life that she would have to eat that. He finally gave up and the two went out for dinner. Max took her to a small bar like diner, where they served mostly pizza and beer. Somewhere deep inside he knew he shouldn't be taking her to these kinds of places, but he figured she'd be eating a lot of burgers soon enough when he started his new job.  
They argued for a few minutes about what pizza to order (Anna wanting mushrooms and Max totally disgusted by the thought.) And Max ordered a beer and Anna took apple juice. "Well this is nice." He smiled at her. The little girl gave him a weird look.

"It stinks in here." She said, holding her hand up to her noise.

"That, is the erotic smell of cigarette, my friend."

Anna frowned. "Erotic? I think gross is more like it."

"Sorry squirt, I don't have money for a ritzy, no smoking, place."

"That's cause you're a bum with no job, right?" She said bluntly. Max gave her an exasperated smirk.

"At least you're getting pizza," He said, trying to change the subject. "and with fungus on it too." Anna giggled and beamed at her uncle.

"Yeah."

Their food came shortly after and the two began to scarf it down when the were interrupted by a gasp. Max looked up with a mouth full of pizza to see a familiar face. It took him a moment before he realized it was the lady from the park. "Hey, you're the guy who passed out at the park." She stated, coming up to him and glancing at Anna. Max swallowed the piece of pizza in his mouth, not bothering to wipe the sauce from his face.

"Yup, that's me." He grinned, unsure of what to do.

"Did you get home okay? Oh, of course you did, or you wouldn't be here." She smiled, amused at her own mistake.

There was an awkward silence, then Anna said, "You're pretty." The woman blushed and smiled warmly at the girl.

"Thank you, sweetie."

Another awkward silence then, "Well, it's good to know you're okay. Sure you don't need a huge?"

"What's with the hug thing. Do you ask that to everyone?" He questioned, slightly amused.

"I donno," she shrugged "You just seem like someone who could use one." Then she turned around and walked back to her seat. Max raised his eyebrows in amusement and looked at Anna, who was smiling the same way.

"What a strange girl. Kinda hot, but still strange."

Anna rolled her eyes and began to eat her pizza again.

By the time they reached home Anna was ready to fall asleep, though she was unwilling to admit it. She had barely gotten into her pajama's before collapsing in Max's arms as he watched TV. Max waited a few minutes for her to fall completely asleep, stroking her red locks and rubbing her back in a rhythmic pattern, before picking her up and carrying her to bed. He tucked her in and sat on the edge of the bed for a few minutes, watching her chest rise and fall with each breath. After stroking her cheek he leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. He was hesitant at first, but a smile played on his lips afterward as he thought of his cute little niece. He shut the door behind him.

Max sat at the table, booze in hand, looking at his bong full of flowers. Things were getting complicated, he thought. She was doing something to him, something he didn't know whether or not he liked. And he didn't like not knowing if he liked it, but he knew he liked some part of it. And soon his thoughts were so tangled he just decided to stop thinking.

Suddenly he remembered it was Saturday. Saturday night to be specific. Usually he would be at the club, dancing and having ladies laughing at his stupid jokes. And Maybe it was the fact that he didn't like to think about things, or maybe it was the booze, but something in Max Carrigan's mind proved to be too powerful of force to resist, and before he knew it he was out the door and on his way to the club.

It didn't take long before Max was smashed and fooling around with assorted scantily clad ladies.

It didn't take long for him to invite one particularly sexy girl over to his house.

And it didn't take long before they were making out right outside the apartment door. Not long at all.

Max fumbled for his keys and slipped it in the key hole, all the while keeping his lips interlocked with the woman. They made their way to the couch, making various sounds, and Max leaned her down onto it, sucking her neck with sloppy kisses. Using her skinny arms, the girl pushed him away for a second, listening "There's no one here besides us, right?"

Max continued his ravenous exploration of this woman's body, stopping only slightly to shake his head and mutter a breathy "No.". With hands of an expert, he began to unbutton her blouse and tossed it aside. Aroused by the sight of fresh meat, he made his way down lower, to her chest.

He stopped suddenly, hearing the sound of a light switch, and looked up at the woman then to the right. Anna stood with her blankly in her hand, just starring at them with a look of shock. Max's jaw dropped, and he was frozen in that position. The woman, too, was also gapping at the little girl, making no signs of movement. Finally the woman had the courage to speak. "Shit, Max you said no one was home." She crawled out from underneath him and grabbed her shirt, hastily throwing it on. "Sorry you had to see your daddy like that, kid." She said giving Anna a sad smile and walked out the door.

"She's not my daughter!" Max yelled after she had already left "She's my niece!" His voice slurred and he slumped on the couch, looking like a child who just had candy taken away from him.

"What's wrong with you uncle Max?" Anna choked out, tears forming in her golden-brown eyes. Max looked groggily up at Anna and rolled of the couch onto his knees in front of her.

"Don't cry Annie." He begged, which made her cry harder. He tried to put a hand on her shoulder but she avoided it and began to go to their room. Max stood up, putting one hand one hand on the couch to help him. "Why are you crying?" He said pathetically, with almost a hint of panic in his voice.

Anna looked back at him. "I don't know!" She sobbed, and slammed the door shut. Max clumsily made it to the door and began to pound on it. "Annie, open the door." He pleaded, letting his frame lean against the door. He pounded on the door again, this time receiving an equally loud thump that sounded like it came from the room next to theirs.

"Hey!" Called the man on the other side. "Do you know what time it is? Shut up!"

"Go back to bed!" yelled Max. He listened for something else to be said, but all he could here was the sound of a whimpering Anna.

He sighed and made his way to the couch. "It's just you an' me old buddy." He said to the couch, flopping down on it. He fell asleep shortly after.

* * *

Max wasn't surprised when he woke up with a rather big hangover. It was so bad (though not the worse he had ever had) that he even had trouble remembering why he had woken up on the couch, instead of in his spacious, non lumpy, bed. It took him a tremendous amount of effort and courage to stand. When he had finally made his way to the kitchen, he noticed the lovely centerpiece on his table and mentally kicked himself for what had happened last night.

"Damit." He mumbled, partly to himself and partly because there was no more Cap'n Crunch left. Luckily for him he had a stash of "energy" bars in one of the drawers. He opened one labeled Milkey Way and began to eat it when he noticed a fully dressed Anna standing in the kitchen doorway, a suitcase at her side. Determination burned in her eyes.

"What's going on?" He said smiling, despite his massive headache.

"I'm going home." She said staunchly. Max stood there for a moment, chewing his breakfast while he figured out what he was going to say.

"Um, I don't think that's possible." He said lamely. Anna's expression didn't change.

"Yes it is. They gave their number for the place they're at. I'm going to call them and tell them to come get me." Her eyes trailed off towards the phone. Max took a quick glance to see what she was looking at.

"I can't let you do that." He said as he spread his stance to protect the phone.

"Why not?" she asked bitterly.

"Because they can't know what happened last night."

"Why not?"

"Because then they'd really give me what for."

"So?"

Max searched his mind for the answer to that. What _did_ it matter? There couldn't possibly be anything else they could do. Except never let him see Anna again. But what did he care…Why did they leave her here in the first place, Max tried to remember. "You just can't" He said at last.

Just then Anna dashed to her right, rounding the table. Max cut her off and she rounded the other way, where he cut her off once again. He was about to grab her when she ducted to the floor and tried to crawl under his legs. Max adjusted himself and picked up Anna, throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She started banging on him, screaming, "Let me go! Let me go!" She let out a long scream, and Max almost dropped her, his headache raising about ten levels.

"Shut up!" He cried as he hurriedly made his way to the bedroom. He tossed her down onto the bed and glared at her. "Shut up!" he sneered again. Immediately he regretted his action, and tried to say something to atone for it, but to was too late. Tears started to come uncontrollably from Anna's eyes. She pulled her knees up her chest and sobbed with her head down.

Max crawled onto the bed. "God, Anna, I'm sorry." He apologized.

Anna sniffed. "I want momma." She wept, her voice muffled from her head being down.

"Me too." Whispered Max, but Anna didn't hear. He scooted closer to Anna and wrapped his arms around her, rocking her back and forth. Finally Anna lifted her head and leaned it against his chest.

"Mommy says you have bad dreams about the war." She said suddenly. Max squeezed Anna and nodded.

"That's right."

There was a silence then Anna looked up at her uncle. "Is that what happened at the park? You were having a bad dream?"

Max let out a short breath. "Yup, I guess it was."

"Is that why you do bad things, is because of the war?" A fresh wave of tears strolled down here cheeks.

"Anna, I don't do bad things…okay well not…never mind, the point is this serious shit is giving me a bigger headache then before, can we drop it?"

"Momma says talking about your problems helps solve them." She wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Well momma ain't here, so we can do whatever we want, and "we" want to not talk about this."

Anna sighed. "I still think you need to talk about, but I'll let it slide."

Max chuckled. "Thanks." He said and leaned his head back to rest on the wall. Anna nuzzled her face into Max's clothe and then instantly drew back.

"Uncle Max? You stink."

Max looked down at Anna, a hurt expression on his face. "Hey, I thought we were over the whole 'hate uncle Max' thing."

"No," She giggled, "I mean you smell bad." She pinched her noise to demonstrate.

"Oh. Well, that's because I haven't taken a shower 'cause someone decided to go all drama queen on me." Anna giggled again and Max released her and got up, stretching his back. "What a lousy couch," he said as his back popped several times. "I'm sleeping in this bed tonight, understand little missy?" Anna nodded and Max walked off to take his shower.

Max stood in the shower and let the water run down his back, hopeful that it would wash away his back pains and headache. When he was done and walking around in his blue robe he suddenly got an idea and rushed to his room. He looked frantically around for what he was trying to find, even searching his tiny closet. After several frustrating minutes he snapped his fingers, "of course," he said and went to the bathroom.

He appeared in the kitchen and found Anna there looking, unsuccessfully, for something to eat. When she turned around, Max was standing there with a wide grin on his face and a golf bag at his side. "Golf?" She said with a hint of disgust.

"Yeah, I thought we could go hit a few, ya know, together." He said sheepishly with his same old lopsided grin.

Anna watched her uncle, an undeniable sparkle in his eyes. And it was in that moment that Anna fell in love with her uncle.

* * *

**Ho-hum. So was Max in character? I had a hard time telling. You people aren't kidding when you say emo chapters are hard to write.**

**So Eriala, I tried to write you in there, lol (you never did get that hug ; ) but after the first sentence she kind of turned into her own character. I've grown found of her, so she might become a recurring character.**

**Ps. Just to clear things up, Anna is not falling for her uncle in the creepy way. You know how little girls want to marry their fathers? Yeah I was thinking more along those lines. Just didn't want any confusion. Okay I'm done rambling. It's your turn, review!**


	4. I Should Have Known Better

**Hey guys. Sorry it's a short chapter and long wait. I've been really busy. Upside to this is I finally know where this story is going! woo-hoo! hopefully I'll have the next chapter up a little sooner, but don't quote me on this. **

**Thanks again and again to all who have been reviewing/reading. It means so much! I love you all!**

* * *

**Across the Universe  
Two Children, No Parents  
Chapter 4**

Max woke up the next morning surprisingly early. (at least for him, anyway) Feeling a warm body next to him, he let his eyes slowly open. Anna was sleeping with her face buried next to him, her blanket pulled up snugly to her mouth. Max smiled at the sight, a warm feeling crossing over his stomach. With a drowsy exhale, the little girl stretched and opened her eyes. She looked up at a smiling Max and she smiled lazily back, snuggling closer to him. The man was a little taken aback by her act of affection but quickly embraced it.

"Good morning, little girl." He said and she pulled away from him. "Ready for some breakfast?" The little girl nodded then yawned.

Max attempted to make something for breakfast, and to his and Anna's surprise it didn't't taste so bad. "See?" He said with a smug grin on his face. "I'm not so bad a cook."

Anna cocked her eyebrow. "Even I can make toast, Uncle Max." She said and took a bite.

Max held the toast up and waved it at her. "But can you make it with such excellent quality as this? I think not." He took a bite of the toast and stroked his invisible beard.. "In fact," He continued, amused. "I buttered every piece so perfectly I doubt even the ritziest of places has as high of standard food as- Shit!" He exclaimed, suddenly remembering his job. He stood up quickly, knocking his chair over in the process and shoved the remaining amount of toast into his mouth, washing it down with his soda. "Let's go!" he commanded to Anna, who was still eating.

"But I'm not even dressed!" She argued, taking her dishes and setting them on the counter next to the sink.

"Well then go get dressed!" He scooted Anna in the direction their room. She rolled her eyes but hurried nonetheless. Max rushed to the bathroom and sprayed on some deodorant to cover his unwashed body scent. Anna and him traded places and Max threw on a semi-clean shirt and pants. The underwear would have to wait!

Anna carried her shoes to put on in the car while Max lifted her up in his arms so that he could make it faster down the stairs.

Max drove off so fast that Anna barely had time to fasten her seat belt, shrieking every time the car rounded a corner. It didn't take long for them to get to the restaurant and Max pulled Anna along, holding her hand, with her ineffectively looking both ways before crossing the street. He burst into the room and quickly told her to go sit down and be a good girl before rushing off behind the counter. Anna did as she was told and sat down in a little booth, unpacking some items from her hastily filled backpack.

With each passing hour, Anna seemed to become more integrated with her seat, sinking down in boredom. There were several pictures on the table that she had drawn with her stubby pencil that was nearing the end of it's life. A stuffed animal was securely placed in her lap, and she had eaten three suckers, two Snickers bars and a half eaten chocolate bar before Max appeared, carrying a tray of food.

"Are you done?" asked Anna with a groan. She didn't bother to sit up straight.

"Nope, just on break." He set the food near her, scooting away her mess of things. "Are you hungry?"

Anna shook her head. "No thanks." She said, looking at her candy wrappers. Max sighed and took a seat across from her.

"Were do you get all this candy? Not from my empty drawers, I'm sure." He began to unwrap his food.

"I brought it from home, for emergencies." she clarified, making an effort to sit up. Max snorted in amusement.

"And were you planning on sharing?" Anna shook her head, a smile on her lips. "Eat your food." He chuckled. Anna slowly began to eat her food, and after the next few minutes Max had to return to his duty, leaving her alone and bored once again.

"Uncle Max?" Said Anna as they were driving home.

"Yeah huh." he replied, glancing up and looking at the rear-view mirror to see her.

"Today was the most boring day of my life." Her eyes were dull and her voice monotone.

Max gave her a sad smile. "Sorry honey pie, it's gonna have to be this way for a little while." He turned a corner. "Didn't you bring any books or something?"

"I read them all." She said while looking out the window. She clutched the side of the door as Max suddenly made a U-turn. "Hey!" she squeaked.

"We're gonna get some more books."

"If you don't kill me first." she said sternly, but her lips formed a smile.

Same routine as last time, Anna headed for the kid's place and Max wondered off to some random room. For a second he thought about going back up to the anatomy books, but decided it was too much work to climb the stairs, no matter how fascinating the human body was. Instead, he took a seat and rested his head on the table and waited for Anna to return.

"Max?"

The bachelor lifted his head to see who was calling his name, wiping drool away from his chin as he did so. A girl in short, tight skirt and flattering top stood on the opposite side of him, smirking. "I knew I recognized that shaggy mop that you call your hair."

"Rose." He smiled dumbly. What a girl Rose was. When he had met Rose she was studding to become a barber, or whatever the hell they called it. He couldn't remember. All he remembered was how her hair was always perfectly set. Luscious, curly black locks. Locks of love he would call them. Hmmm…love, he remembered those times, too…

"Maxwell."

Max shook the thoughts from his head and focused on the girl before him, who had taken a seat during his daydreaming. "Don't call me that." He ordered, and she smirked.

"Sorry, but it looked like you went away to dream land." she leaned closer. "Remember anything…specific?" She smirked again, lust gleaming in her eyes. Max shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his pants suddenly becoming tight. Chuckling lightly, she flipped her hair over her shoulder, leaning back into her seat.

"Damn, you are looking good." He said, eyeing her up and down. "Remind me again why we broke up?"

"I believe it was because you were always in trouble and I always bailed you out."

"Was that really such a bad thing?" He joked.

"Yes, if I ever wanted a real life." she said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Max opened his mouth but closed it again when he couldn't think of anything to say. She smiled at him, her red lips so inviting. His eyes gazed at them for a moment before they shifted to an approaching Anna.

"I'm ready." the little girl smiled, looking entirely at Max, like he was her whole world.

"Huh, what?" He mumbled as he tore his gaze from rose. Anna looked from Max to Rose, her gold eyes narrowing.

"I said I'm ready, so let's go." She reached for his arm and began to impatiently tug on his sleeve.

"And who are you?" asked Rose to Anna, giving her a friendly smile.

When Anna ignored her, Max said, "This is my niece. She's staying with me for a while." Rose snorted and Max gave her a funny look.

"I'm sorry," She said holding her hand up apologetically, an amused smile still on her lips. "It's just, how is that working out?" She mocked a concerned look.

"Just fine!" Huffed Anna. A bit to loud too, for a person not far from them shushed her. She gave Rose a quick death glare, and then Max, and stormed out of the building. The blonde shrugged at Rose, just as confused as her, and stood up.

"Well, good luck with that." Rose said, grabbing her purse. She stood up, too and began to leave when Max grabbed her arm.

"Hey, why don't I buy you lunch sometime, say Saturday?"

Rose contemplated this for a second, her eyes never looking away from his. He had such a charming grin on his face. How could she refuse. "Fine," she said, giving him an intrigued smile. "But I'll come by your place first. Where are you living now?"

Max wondered why she wanted to come by his place, she had that look abut her whenever she was scheming, but Max decided just to let it be. He did didn't want to risk not seeing her at all. "Same place as before."

Rose looked a bit disgusted. "You're still living in that dump. Ugh, that poor girl."

"Yeah, okay, so I'll see you Saturday?" He said, realizing that he needed to catch up to that "poor girl".

"Saturday it is." She leaned toward him, grabbing the back of his head, and locked lips with him. When she pulled away, Max hesitated, not wanting it to end. With all his muster he skedaddled out the door after Anna.

"Anna, wait!" He called after her, surprised she had not gone very far. Max guessed that she had been watching and waiting for him to come out the door before she pretended to walk away. Maybe she had even seen the kiss. He jogged up to her and turned her around by the shoulder. "Hey, I'm talking to you." he said softly. He really didn't want to get this chick mad, she might pull another stunt like last time and try to call Lucy and Jude again.

With a piercing glare, Anna turned around, forcefully jerking her shoulder away, and made her way to where the car was parked. She stood in front of the door, arms crossed, waiting.

"Oh come on! Are you on your monthly or something?"

Anna turned around to face her uncle, a confused look on her face. "My what?" she asked harshly.

"Never mind."

"Can we go?" She said impatiently, motioning to the car. Max didn't do anything for a moment, deciding whether to leave it alone or not. Finally pulling the keys from his pocket, he unlocked the car and got in. Neither one said anything to the other all the way home.

* * *

**haha so predictable, Max has to know at least one of 3 girls, Rose Valerie or Joan. :D Reviewing is very nice. Honest reviews are the nicest though**. 


	5. Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby

**Hey good news! I finally know how the story is going to end!... Ireally needed to plan this story out better. heh. anyway thanks forall the reveiws peoples! A super special awesome thank you to**_WhiteInnocence _**who has reviewed every chapter thus far! **

* * *

**Across the Universe**  
**Two Children, No Parents  
****Chapter 4  
****Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby**

Max could not figure it out. He simply could not. This silent treatment from Anna was killing him, and he didn't even know the reason for it. He tried to get her to explain it to him, and in return she would slam the door in his face. It wasn't until she succeeded in slamming the door while his fingers were in the way that he gave up trying to talk to her. That was Wednesday. The rest of the week not a word was spoken between them. Sleeping habits were uncomfortable. Both of them would sleep on opposite sides of the bed, as far away from the other as possible. Several nights resulted in cover wars, all of which Anna won. 

When Max went to work, so would Anna. She would be bored, like usually, but still not say a word. They even went to the store to by food and still neither one talked. By Saturday Anna was itching to talk to someone, anyone. Max, on the other hand, was used to being alone and was far from giving in. Until the phone rang… 

"Hello?" Max said. 

"Max?" said a girl voice on the other end. "It's Rose." 

"Hey baby." he said playfully. 

"Yeah… umm I can't make it this afternoon. But can I come by in the evening? You can buy me dinner instead of lunch." 

"Uh, sure. That's cool. See you then." 

"Yeah. Bye Maxwell." she giggled. 

"Don't call me that!' 

She giggled again and hung up. _Women_, thought Max as he headed to his room. After the first step the phone rang again. 

"Just can't get enough of me, can you baby?" Max said, immediately blushing afterwards when he heard Jude's voice on the other line. Suddenly thinking of an angry Anna, Max's face turned to one of panic. "H-hey, Jude." He said nervously. "Yeah, Anna's here. Of course she's here why wouldn't she be? Get her? Umm sure.. Anna!" He called over the phone. Anna appeared through the bathroom door with a blank face, though there was a hint of smugness in her body language, especially when she saw the phone. "Nervous?" He said to the phone as he eyed Anna. "I'm not nervous. Oh look here's Annie." He held the phone out to her, eyes pleading for her not to say anything negative. She took the phone slowly, her face completely unreadable. Damn, she was good.

"Daddy?" She said in a way that made Max want to puke. "I miss you too. When are you coming home? …Oh…" She was silent for a minute, staring at Max while listening to the voice on the other side. "Am I doing okay?" She repeated her father's question, for the benefit of Max. He put his hands together, begging silently with her not to say anything bad about him. She stared at him until he mouthed the words "please" then said, "It's really boring here." Okay so it wasn't the best thing she could have said, but it was better then some of the other possibilities. "He takes me to work everyday…No, he said he doesn't have enough money to pay for daycare… am I safe?" 

Okay, Now she was just toying with him.

Max threw up his hands in defeat and circled around like a puppy dog getting ready to lie down. "Yeah, I'm safe." She said and Max let out a relieved sigh. "He took me to the library, and the park. We even played golf." She giggled, "I love you too, daddy. Bye." She hung up the phone. "Looks like you're off the hook." 

Max let his head fall back. "Thank you Annie. You are a goddess." 

"You owe me."

"Anything. The world is yours." 

Anna smiled slyly. "Play with me." 

* * *

"So, I'm the fairy queen and you are the fairy queen's servant." Anna stood in the living room, decked out in a pink skirt and holding onto a stick that she pretended was a wand. Max looked down at himself for the third time that night, his also pink skirt just barely over his boney hips. 

"I can't believe this fits me." He said, trying to pull the lager skirt up higher on him. He started to smooth his hair, playing with the ribbons tied to the blonde strands. "I think I look pretty sexy though, what do you think?" He struck a pose that made Anna double over in laughter. Max grinned widely and started to prance around the room like a fairy, swishing the skirt as he did. 

"Come, Sunflower, I give you your mission." said Anna between giggles. Max laughed at the name. 

"Sunflower? Can't I be Raging Storm, or Lighting Fairy?" 

"You're a fairy, uncle Max, not in the army." Anna quickly regretted her word choice and watched with caution as Max bit his lip. His eyes went dark for a flicker of a second and Anna wondered if she had imagined it. But it was gone before she could tell and Max was laughing again and bowed on one knee before her. 

"Oh Strawberry Swirl of the Fruity Loop Valley. I, Sunflower, am at your service." 

Anna smiled and touched her stick-wand thing to his shoulder. "Go then, brave Sunflower, and turn all the wilted flowers back to life!" 

"Very well, my queen, but…Permission to use the bathroom first." He stood and pretended like he couldn't hold it. Anna laughed out loud and waved her hand. 

"Go." 

Max rushed to the bathroom and shut the door. Anna waited for him by plopping herself on the couch. Just then there was a knock on the door. 

"Can you answer that Annie?" Max called from the bathroom. Though Anna was taught not to answer the door for strangers, she figured she would be okay this once. The knocked sounded again and Anna got off the couch and opened the door. 

"Hi, sweaty," Said a dressed up Rose, "Is your uncle there?" 

Anna shut the door. 

She heard a flush from the bathroom and Max appeared, smiling. "Who was it?" He asked casually. Before Anna could say anything there was another knock. "Annie, you didn't answer it?" He swung the door open and became face to face with Rose. "Rose!" He exclaimed, suddenly remembering their date. He stepped aside to let her in, glancing sternly at Anna, who shrugged. 

"I completely forgot, Rose" he said as she took a seat on the couch. "I've…we've been kinda busy." 

"So I see." She said, referring to his dress up clothe. Max smiled sheepishly, blushing, and excused himself to his room.

"Are you enjoying your stay with your uncle?" Asked Rose to Anna, who had become increasingly interested in the stick she was holding. The younger girl nodded her head slightly, avoiding eye contact. "Max is such a great guy. Who knows, maybe I'll be aunt Rose someday." She said with a wink. Anna snorted and began to pick up her toys scattered in the living room, taking them back to the bedroom. As she went in, Max came out, dressed in blue jeans and a brown shirt. "And how long has that shirt been sitting under your bed?" She asked, rising from the couch. 

He grinned. "I don't know. But there wasn't any mold on it so I'm good." 

"You always make me laugh, Max." She placed both hands on his shoulder and leaned closer. With dainty hands, she pulled on the forgotten ribbons in his hair, untying them and tossing them to the side, all the while leaning in closer. He could feel and smell her breath on him, minty and warm like always. Max backed away uneasily and smoothed his pants. He could tell Rose was upset at him for pulling away, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she entered his bedroom and took a good look around. "You could have at least cleaned a little for her." 

"Yeah, well, she caught me by surprise. They kinda just dropped her off here one morning and that was it." He looked at Anna, who was still putting away her toys, and smiled at the memory. 

"And where does she sleep?" Rose said, brushing her hands along his mattress.

Anna finally decided to leave and pushed her way past Max, who watched her go to the kitchen. "With me." He answered, drawing his attention back to Rose. 

She looked at him and smiled, "Aw, how sweet." Then she chucked, "Guess that means you finally have to start washing your sheets." Max stood there, gaping at her. Her face turned to disgust. "Ew, Max, that is so gross. God, I think I'm going to be sick." She touched her throat with delicate fingers. 

"It's not that bad." He frowned. 

"I'm going out with Phil." She said, suddenly changing subjects, starring at Max with serious eyes. The question caught him off guard, and for a moment all he did was look at her. 

"Phil? You're dating, Phil Low?" He stuttered out. 

"Mmm. You two should get together sometime. He tells me stories about you and him, I bet you'd have a lot to talk about." 

"Naw, he doesn't wanna see me, man." He chuckled nervously. "We'd have nothing to talk about." 

Rose walked closer to him. "Sure he does. You two were in the same unit together-"

"Not for very long." he interjected. 

"Well, I still think you should at least call him." She stood in front of him, only a few inches away. Max turned his head to the side. 

"Why are you going out on a date with me, if you're dating Phil?" 

"I miss you, Maxy." she said, almost pouting. "Besides, you asked me, and how could I refuse that?" 

He looked at her, glancing from her feet to her neck and back down again. Taking in everything, from her sandle like shoes and toned legs, to her curvy torso and pearl necklace placed around her neck. "Well if you're expecting someplace nice, you can think again." 

Rose smiled and placed a hand on her hip. "Like it?" she said referring to the black dress she had on. 

"Hell yeah." 

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go." 

For a split second Max's mind ran down the gutter and he thought of Rose on his bed, naked. Then the imaged flashed and she was a corps on his bed. It caught him off guard and he felt his stomach churn. Shaking his head, he removed the thought from his mind. Burring it with all the others. 

"Are you alright?" she asked, concerned. Max turned away from her and coughed. 

"Yeah, fine. I'm going to get Annie then we can go." 

"Oh." 

Max faced her. "Oh? You didn't think We'd be going alone did ya?" 

"Well, yes, as a matter of fact I did." she said in a haughty tone. It softened again when she said, "Can't you just leave her for a few hours? We'll be back here in no time." 

Max thought about this. He had left her once before, when he went to the club. But she hadn't been mad at him then. But he had a feeling Rose would be pissed if he brought the squirt. Finally Max said, "Fine. Yeah, I guess we can leave her here for a while. Just let me go tell her." He made his way to the kitchen. 

"I'm ready to go, uncle Max." Anna sprang out of the kitchen, purse in tow and shoes on. Max kneeled down to her level and grinned. 

"I thought you weren't talking to me." He said smugly. Anna rolled her eyes. 

"Well someone needs to supervise you and…her." She said the last word begrudgingly.

"Not tonight Annie. This one's just me and her." 

"So you're just going to leave me here? You're a horrible uncle!" She exclaimed, and stomped off to the bedroom. Max stood up from his crouching position, his ears tender from Anna's loud voice. Rose stood behind him, a look of sympathy and amusement in her eyes. "She's been like this all week." Max said to her. 

"You two just need a little time apart. Which is exactly what I'm here for." She grabbed her purse and coat, then practically shoved Max out the door, making sure it was locked before shutting it. 

* * *

"Now I know why It was so hard being with you." Max said as he sat down across from Rose at the little diner they came to. It was quaint, and almost too cheerful for Max. He liked the laid back café's better. Or the bars that had loud bands playing. Cute and sophisticated just wasn't him. But it was what Rose wanted. And what she wanted was what she got. 

"And why's that?" She said, taking off her coat and sitting gracefully down in the chair. 

"Because it pissed me off to see how many people were looking at you." He gestured at some random customers looking their way, eyes glazed over and mouth practically a waterfall of drool. 

"Aw, playboy Maxy can't share?" She mocked. Max shook his head and smiled dumbly before looking up at the approaching waitress. 

"Hello, I'm Meg and I'll be your server tonight." Said a preppy girl with straight brown hair. " Our soup special for today is chicken with broccoli. Can I start you off with anything to drink?" 

"I'll have a coke." He said, smiling politely up at her.

"Oh hey again." Said the waitress as if she recognized him. Max wasn't sure of what to do, since he had no clue who the woman was. She must have caught on to this because then she said, "I'm the girl from the park. A few weeks ago. Ya know, do you need a hug and all that." Max's eyes lit up, finally remembering. 

"Right. I remember now. Nice to see you again." He winked at her, then suddenly noticed Rose looking at them guardedly and lowered his gaze. 

"I'll just have water, thank you." The black-haired beauty said, a hint of callousness in her voice. 

"What? Oh! Oh, right." the waitress wrote the order down. "So where's your niece tonight? Back with her folks?" She said happily, ignoring Roses curtness. 

"Uh, no, I'm still taking care of her. She's at home tonight." Max said as he fiddled unconsciously with a napkin. 

"Oh I see. Got the 'ol baby sitter on the job, eh?" 

"No, she's home alone." Rose commented matter-of-factly. Max gave her an irritated glance. 

"Wow." She chuckled. "That's bad." Max frowned at her but it was Rose who spoke again. 

"Excuse me, but who are you to criticize? Maybe we should take our business elsewhere." 

"Oh no no." Meg said fanatically, although she was still smiling. "I didn't mean…What I meant was that you don't have to. Here..." She dug into her apron and pulled out a small card and handed it to Rose, who didn't take it so instead she handed it to Max.. "I can baby sit. I know CPR and I'm excellent with kids." Max stared at the card. "But it's your choice. I'm just your waitress. OH! I should be getting your drinks. One coke and a water coming right up." She smiled widely one more time at Max before walking away. Rose rolled her eyes once the waitresses back was gone. 

Max grinned smugly at Rose, one side of his lip rising higher then the other. "Looks like it's not just playboy Max who doesn't like to share." He smirked. Rose flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked at him with annoyance. "Besides, you're going out with Phil." 

That annoyance turned to sadness and she fiddled with her hair, twisting a strand around in her fingers. "I-I'm going to break up with Phil." 

"What?" 

"I can't stand it," said Rose, her voice filled with desperation. "I think about you all the time, Max. I can't get over you." She bit down on a finger nail and waited for Max's replay. When he didn't say anything, she continued, "And after seeing you in the library, that was it. I love you Max." 

Max was startled. He couldn't believe it. Sure, in his previous relationship with her they ended on fairly good terms. But Rose had never been one be so…desperate. Maybe he had a larger affect on her then he thought. But what about Phil… When he asked this out loud, Rose scoffed. 

"He treats me badly. He doesn't give a shit about me. I wont take it anymore ." Rose grew silent as the waitress appeared with their drinks. 

"Alrighty, what can I get ya?" She asked. Rose ordered a salad and Max didn't order anything. He was too busy thinking about his possibilities. Going out with Rose would be great, he thought. Just looking at her it was hard to tell why they broke up. Sure she was a little bossy at times, but damn was she hot! The only question left was, was she hot enough to fight for? 

"So," He said, thinking out loud, "You'll break up with Phil to go out with me, and Phil will be pissed and come kick my ass. Have you seen him recently? His arms are as wide as freaking palm trees!" 

Biting her lip, Rose batted her eyelashes at him. "So you don't think I'm worth it?" 

"Well yeah. But I don't want the crap beat outta me just because you decided to date one of my old war buddies." 

"Kiss me." Max's eyes bulged. Had she always been this bipolar? "I want you. Right here, right now." 

"Rose, we're in the middle of a restaurant." He reminded her in a low voice, although the look she gave him made his body flare. 

"Leave the money on the table and lets go back to my place." She stood up and started walking towards the door, looking sideways at him with a glance that said take it or leave it. Max thought about it (he really did) for as long it takes to light a cigarette. Then before he knew it, he was following her out the door. 

Normally, he might have played it cool, especially with someone like Rose, who you didn't want to have the upper hand in a game like this. But for Max, it had been too long and he couldn't refuse. With Anna being around for about two weeks, Max never had anytime to release…tension, either with a female of by himself. And now his hormones were calling out to him, too loud to ignore, and he followed them…all the way home. 

* * *

**So is this story still good? am I too boring, orneed to change anything in the next chpater, character wise or other? like I said last time, the honest reviews are the best. thanks guys! (well I bet 99.9 are female, but you know what i mean.)**


	6. You Never Give Me Your Money

-**1Know what I just realized? Phil is the name of Molly's BF. Duh. My bad. I should have made it Bill like I had originally planned. Oh well. Sorry if that added any confusion, though I don't know why it would.**

**Also, sorry for the long wait. I turn my computer off for one day, and there's like 10 more ATU fics. Don't you guys have anything better to do on Easter? Well I did, so that why this is late. But it's longer then normal, so there. :P**

* * *

**Across The Universe  
Two Children, No Parents  
Chapter 6: You Never Give Me Your Money**

Max laid sprawled out on the bed, one arm wrapped around a very naked Rose, who cuddled into his chest. He wasn't sure what time it was, or that he really cared he just liked the feeling of something wrapped in his arms. It was light out, so it had to sometime in the morning.

Lazily, Max let his gaze wonder around the room. It was a nicer apartment then his, and very clean. The room smelled of French Vanilla, just like Rose did.

Max yawned. It was had been a wild night to say the least. Rose was the kind of girl who didn't skimp when it came to sex, something Max admired very much. The other reason he was so tired might have been due to the fact that he kept thinking Rose's boyfriend, Phil, was going to pop into the room at any second. Rose had assured him that they had not moved in together yet, but Phil was a big guy, and little guys like Max didn't take chances when it came to big guys like Phil.

Finally Rose woke from her sleep and yawned, stretching her legs to the end of the bed. Without saying a word she began to rub Max's chest, playing with the strands of hair. "So, was it just like you remembered it?" she asked him innocently.

Max stroked her back. "Hmm, better."

"You poor deprived man." She laughed softly.

"Yeah, even since- shit!" A jolt of panic swept over Max as he suddenly remembered a certain little girl of whom he had left at home.

"Even since shit?" Roses repeated, amused.

"Shit!" Max wriggled from Rose's grasp and flew off the bed, searching for his clothe, all the while muttering, "shit shit shit!"

Rose rolled over to her side, amused and irritated by the sudden absence of her man. "What is it? Quit talking about your ass and tell me what's wrong."

Max pulled his shit over his head. "I forgot Annie."

With a sigh, Rose rolled onto her back. "Oh." She said half-heartedly. Once Max had all his clothe on, he stopped in front of the bed and buried his face into it, groaning loudly. "She's going to hate me," he said through the covers, "I am such a terrible parent."

"You're not a father, Max," she reminded him. "she's just your niece."

"Whatever," max lifted up his head and looked at Rose. "if I can't take care of her, how will I be able to care for my own kids."

Rose's eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up. "I can't believe I'm hearing this from you. You want kids?"

Max put a hand to his neck and rubbed it nervously. "Well, I guess, you know…maybe, eventually."

"You really havechanged." She said, and Max found himself getting defensive.

"Yeah, well, war can do that to a person." He started to leave the room to go, since Rose didn't seem interested in following him out into the living room.

"We're still going out tonight, right?" She said as soon as he was near the door. Max turned to look at her.

"Sure, all three of us can." He said simply and left the room. Once he was out of sight, Rose rolled her eyes. "oh goody."

* * *

"Annie!" Max called as he practically burst through the door. He frantically looked around his room, unconsciously thinking to himself that he needed to clean. When there was no reply, Max called out again, "Annie, It's Max, where are you?" He checked the kitchen first, glancing right past the wilting flowers that drooped over the bong. Next, he checked the bathroom and then moved to his bedroom. When he didn't see her on his bed, he began to panic. Quickly, he rushed out to the living room again, tripping over one of Anna's toys. He checked behind the couch, and then behind the TV. "ANNIE!" He yelled for the third time, even more hysterically then before. Still no answer. "Fuck." He cursed and rushed back into his bedroom, ready to look under his bed, even though he had no bed frame.

Suddenly, his eyes caught a glimpse of his portable closet and he rushed to it, hands trembling as he unzipped it. Silently her hoped and held his breath. To his right, he saw Anna, knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around her blanket. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, from crying Max guessed. "Annie!" He exclaimed with joy as rushed in to hug her. "I'm so sorry." He whispered as he awkwardly tried to lift her up and carry her out.

"Why didn't you answer me?" he said as he plopped her down on the bed and sat next to her.

Anna rubbed her eyes, clearly chocking back tears, and mumbled something that Max couldn't understand. When he asked her again, she choked out, "I thought something happened to you. Then I heard the door, but it was someone else's voice, so I crawled into the closet."

"Last night?"

Anna nodded her head and Max cursed. "I'm sorry Annie, I…"

"You forgot me, didn't you?" She stated, more then asked. Max didn't know what to say, so he kept quit, not meeting her eyes. "You forgot me!" She cried, and started to pound on him, beating his waist with her tiny fists. Max held on to her as she did so and didn't let go until she stopped pounding and wept into his shirt. He rubbed her back soothingly and waited for her to stop crying. When she did, she hugged him tighter. "Please don't go out with Rose again." She pleaded, and wiped her nose. Max left the room and returned with a box of tissues for her to wipe her snot on. When she was done using them, she grabbed both of his arms. "Please." She begged.

Max moved his arms away from her and shoved his hands into his pockets. His fingers wrapped around a piece of paper, and his eyes brightened. "Don't worry Annie," He said as he pulled the paper from out of his pocket. "I have a great idea. Remember the girl from the park a few weeks ago- you said she was pretty?" Anna nodded, "Well, I saw her at the place me and Rose went to. She offered to baby-sit." He smiled at Anna and was surprised when she didn't smile back.

"So you're still going to date Rose?" She said, eyes downcast.

"Annie, this isn't about Rose, it's about me. I forgot you, my fault." He ran a hand through his shaggy hair and sighed. "I like Rose, Annie. She's…"

"Sexy?" Said Anna bitterly.

"Yes, that…"

"It's not all about looks, uncle Max."

"And who told you that?"

"You did!" She said, shoving a finger in his direction. "You said a person can be the hottest thing in town and still be jerk." She jumped down from the bed and placed her hand on her hips.

Max laughed. "I said that? I never said that. When did I say that?"

"At the library." She said determinedly.

"Rose isn't a jerk. Sure she has her moments, but she's a good person."

"I don't want her around."

"Well too bad. You're getting a baby sitter and that's that."

"You suck uncle Max!" She hollered at him.

"Don't you use that language at me, young lady." he said, wondering if that just came out of his mouth.

"Why not," she said snottily, "you taught it to me."

"Alright, that's it. Go to your room." he boomed.

"I don't have one, dummy!"

"Then stay in here!" He shouted, and left the room, shutting the door with a slam.

A few minutes later, Max returned to the door and knocked on it. "Annie? I'm leaving for work." He said through the door. "Annie?"

"I'm still here." She said loudly, then she lowered her voice so that Max almost couldn't hear her, "It's not like I ran away."

"Okay, well I'm going now."

"Alright."

Max clenched his fists in aggravation. Then, trying to keep his voice calm, he said, "We're going to dinner tonight, you, me and Rose, so when I come back she'll be with me."

"Whatever."

Max almost slammed his fist to the door, but held himself back instead and quietly made his way out the door.

* * *

When Max returned from work that night, him, Anna and Rose went out to dinner. Anna would only speak when spoken too, and ordered hardly anything off the menu. By the time they got home, Max was emotionally exhausted.

"See that wasn't so bad, was it Annie?" cooed Rose as they stepped into Max's apartment. Anna didn't respond, and took off her jacket, hanging it on the couch. "I'm really a fun girl, Annie."

Not expecting Anna to make any comments, Rose was surprised when she suddenly spun around, the tensions from the night finally reaching its peek. "It's Anna!" She said haughtily to Rose, "Say it with me: Ann-_NA_."

"I'm sorry," Rose said, keeping her voice smooth. "but I hear you uncle say it all the time."

Anna took off her shoes and kicked them someplace out of the way. "That's his prerogative, not yours."

Rose raised her eyebrows at Max then said to Anna, "That's quit the vocab you have there, Anna." She said, putting extra emphasis on the "a" part of the little girl's name.

Anna walked over to the bedroom and put her hand on the door, looking at Rose. "My mother is the most intellectual human being I know," She turned to Max, "unlike some other dimwitted blond." She entered the room and shut the door behind her.

"She reads a lot." Said Max lamely, hanging his hat on the door. He offered Rose something to eat, which she kindly refused, reminding him that they had just eaten. "Sorry, It's been a while since I've done this." He said and took a seat at the table. Rose sat down as well, playing with the dried up flowers in the bong. "Like it? Annie made it for me. I laughed so hard."

"Anna." She corrected. Max chuckled.

"Don't take it personally. I'm the only one who's ever called her that. Usually it's 'squirt' or 'kid' or just, 'Anna', you know how kids like that special nickname crap." Rose fiddled with the flowers some more. "Want me to take you home?" Asked Max, sure that she was feeling uncomfortable.

"Yeah, you better," she said and rose from the chair, a sly grin on her lips, "wanna spend the night?" Max just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Never hurts to try." she said.

"That's my motto, anyway." Max laughed, remembering faint, random memories of older days.

"Phil is coming over tomorrow anyway, so it would be best if you didn't stay."

"You gonna break up with him then?"

Rose hesitated, then said, "Yeah." though Max knew she was probably lying. He drove her home, and somehow they ended up making out in the car before Max returned to his apartment, to sleep in his own bed.

* * *

Max let the next few days slip by quickly, not bothering to contact Rose. He wanted to giveher time to sort things out with Phil, and didn't want to run the risk of getting caught with her. He wasn't a chicken, he told himself, he was just being sensitive.

Anna seemed to be warming up to him again. She wasn't quit so defensive around him, and they even went to the library one day. She even started to ask him questions about his life with Jude and Lucy. Max was delighted to share some of their adventures, being careful to keep it at a PG level.

One day while he was washing dinner dishes from a few nights ago, Anna asked, "How long were you in the war, uncle Max?" At first he didn't reply, washing the dishes in a slow rhythmic pattern. He kept thinking, _365, 364, 363_. It's what he did to keep his sanity during the days, repeating the same number over and over again until the next day, knowing that it would reach zero someday and he would be home. He couldn't remember how far he had gotten to before he was shot.

"A long time." He finally answered to her, stacking the last dish on top of the others. Turing around, he saw Anna coloring a piece of paper, but when he tried to get closer she covered it up.

"Nope! You don't get to see it until it's done!" She shook her head, smiling. Max vaguely remembered her telling him that same thing a few weeks ago.

"Are you still working on that same picture, Annie?" Anna bobbed her head up and down, pulling the paper into her lap before he could catch a glimpse. "It better not be a picture of me with that pink skirt on." He warned jokingly. Anna shook her head.

"It's almost done. I forgot about it for a while, but now I'm almost done."

"So you're almost done?" He teased, flopping the dish rag he was holding over his shoulder.

In a motherly tone, Anna scolded, "Maxwell."

"Don't call me that!" he said, furrowing his brow and tossing the dish rag onto Anna's head. She slicked it off like a bug, tossing it to the ground.

"EW!" She exclaimed, and climbed out of her seat to catch the fiend, who ran away from her. "Come back here!" She hollered, running around the apartment while giggling. Max hid in the bathroom and waited until she was in sight to grab her. She screeched as he pulled her up by the waist, laughing wildly, and plopped her back down on the bed, tickling her stomach. She let out another delighted scream when he blew into her tummy. Exhausted, Max collapsed on the bed and rested his head on the pillow. Anna crawled across the bed to him and began to play with his stringy hair. "Will you play with me tonight?" she asked him.

"Not tonight," he began, dreading his next words and her reaction to them, "I have a date later. But maybe tomorrow." He added quickly, lifting his head from its resting place and giving her a gentle smile. Anna's head fell into his lap and he stroked her hair in return.

"With Rose?" groaned Anna.

"Yeah, with Rose."

"And I have to stay home."

"Yup." He said simply.

"With a baby-sitter."

Max nodded his head, "You got it, chicky-poo." Anna groaned again and rolled off of his lap. "Oh come on, you'll like it. She seems like a fun girl."

"How can we trust her uncle Max?" Anna said, sitting up on her knees and facing him. "For all we know she could be some sort of child molester."

Max lowed his face and gave her a look, "Do you even know what that means?" Anna shook her head sheepishly. "Didn't think so."

"Well what does it mean?"

"Not tonight, I'll tell you later, she'll be here soon." He glanced at the only clock in the house. "Whoa! Real soon, I gotta get ready." He said and rushed to the bathroom, grabbing some clean clothe on the way in. A moment later he reappeared, hair combed and dressed in a stripped button up top. As soon as he was out, there was a knock on the door. Max grinned reassuringly at Anna and went to open it.

'Hey!" Smiled an over enthusiastic Meg. Max let her in and she smiled at Anna, bending down to her view. "We're going to have so much fun!" She exclaimed. Anna looked at Max with a terrified, pleading face. He only smiled in return and grabbed his hat that was hung on the door.

"Just dig in the fridge, there should be something to eat." Max instructed, "The TV's only got two channels and showers can only be ten minutes long. I'll be back late." He gave Anna a one arm hug. "See ya." He winked.

"What time is bedtime?" Asked Meg.

"Uhhh…" He rubbed the back of his neck. Meg let out a quiet sigh and closed her eyes, like she was mourning the loss of a pet.

"Never mind, I got it covered." She said, reopening her eyes.

"Right." He said as he headed out the door, giving her a confused glance, unsure if he should say anything else.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine." She said, and shut the door.

* * *

"So you told Phil, right?" Asked Max, who was in yet another quaint little diner with Rose. He was beginning to wonder if he could afford to be Roses' boyfriend.

"Of course." She said, brushing her hand along his arm. He shivered.

"And he's alright?"

"I think he took it rather well." She propped her head up on her hand, elbow on the table, and smiled at him

"And I'm not going to get beat up?"

"No."

"Okay." Max slumped into his seat, now fully relaxed.

A waiter came to order their drinks, then Rose said, "So Anna's with baby-sitter I assume."

"Yeah. Look, sorry about her. She's usually such a nice kid. But when your around, she goes all wacko."

Rose crossed her legs and leaned back into her seat, "I'm sure she's just jealous."

"Jealous?"

"Of course. All little girls get jealous when their man is being shown affection by another woman."

Max laughed a little at the thought if Anna thinking he was her man. "But she doesn't get all snotty when other girls are around, just you. Did you know you're the only girl who she didn't say was pretty?"

Rose crossed her arms and snorted. "Gee, thanks."

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that. I think your gorgeous," He said while placing a hand on his chest, "it's just Annie who has the problem with you."

"You need to stop talking." She joked. "Besides, that's her problem. She'll be gone soon anyway."

Max looked down into his lap, a queasy feeling suddenly formed in his stomach. "Yeah, yeah I guess she will."

"And then it'll be just me and you." She said sensually, and Max tried to smile, but found that that statement didn't excite him as it should have.

Both of them ordered diner, making causal conversation until Rose finally burst out: "Do you want me, Max?"

"What?" He said, flabbergasted.

"Do you really want me to be your girlfriend?"

"Yeah…Hell yeah. Of course I do, I wouldn't risk getting beat up by a half ton ape if I didn't." Rose looked away, fiddling with her curly hair strands. "Is that was this is about, Phil?"

Rose nodded her head. "Phil was…scary sometimes. But he was stable. I want to make sure you wont be like the old Max, and leave me to pick up after you. I know you've changed, but how can I know that I mean something to you?"

"You want proof?" He said, calling the waiter over to bring him the check. "I'll give ya proof, baby." He rose from his chair, quickly paying for the dinner and dragging Rose off into the car. He wasn't sure what he was going to do to show her his love, all he knew was that he wanted Rose. She was perfect, and beautiful and…and…Okay so he didn't know her so well, but so what? Lots of people got together without knowing a lot about each other, look at Jude and Lucy, they turned out okay. Suddenly a thought popped into his head and he knew just where to go: The docks. He made a quick left turn and Rose looked at him like he was crazy. With a wild grin he pulled over and lead Rose to where he and Lucy had spent a lot of time together, back when Jude was deported. He had spent a lot of time here alone, as well.

The sun had already gone down, so they had missed whatever beautiful sunset there was. It was still light enough to see, though, and the light from the city reflected onto the clam waters. A slight breeze flew through the air.

"Maxwell, this is so beautiful." She said, walking up to the water. Max was going to tell her not to call him that, but caught himself, thinking it best not to spoil the mood. Digging into his pockets, he found a cigarette and lit it, letting the smoke gently lift up into the air. Rose turned around to smile at him when her eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of the picture Jude had made of Lucy. "Amazing" She said, walking up to it and gazing at it.

"That's my sister, Lucy." He said proudly. "We used to spend a lot of time here, after I got home from 'Nam. I had-"

"Shh," cooed Rose, placing a finger over his lips, taking the cigarette from his mouth, "please don't talk about the war. It's too depressing, I want to enjoy this." She kissed him gently on the lips, dropping the burning tobacco. He kissed back, though he was a little upset that she wouldn't let him talk about it. Shaking the thought away, he kissed her back harder, pushing her up against the wall. The he paused for a moment, an amused grin on his face.

"You think I'd be too kinky to have sex here?"

"Max!" Exclaimed Rose, hitting him upside the head and pushing him away. Max mentally kicked himself for saying that, knowing that he wasn't going to get any the rest of the night.

"Sorry, babe." He said, wrapping his arms around her.

"It's cold out here." She commented, and Max guessed that he had officially blown it. "It is pretty, though." She nuzzled her face into his neck. Stepping away from his grip, she turned around to face him.

"So did I do okay?"

"Hmm. Yeah. Now all you need to do is write me a love poem." She smirked.

"Don't push your luck."

Rose giggled and grabbed his hand. "It's too cold out here, lets go back to my place." They hurried to the car.

"I can't, I gotta get back to Annie." He said once they were both inside the vehicle. Rose sighed loudly. "Sorry, man, but I don't want to push my luck this time. She's already mad at me as it is." He started the car. "Besides, it's like you said, she'll be gone soon, then we can have as many all nighters as you like." He grinned suggestively.

"Take me home, you dork." She tried to say sternly, but couldn't suppress a chuckle. Max drove her home, not getting the full make out session he did before, and made his way back to his apartment.

"I'm home!" Called Max as he walked in the door. Meg popped her head out from the kitchen, a look of anger on her face.

"Shh, you'll wake her." she said. Just then, Anna burst through the bedroom door and ran to hug Max, who lifted her up in his arms, happily surprised that she had greeted him with such enthusiasm. Meg sighed.

"Uncle Max! We have a surprise for you!" She said as she squirmed in his arms until he let her down. Taking his hand she lead him to his bedroom, which he barley recognized.

"It's…clean." He said in utter astonishment. Anna beamed and nodded, twirling around in the room.

"Yeah we picked up everything, there's a whole garbage bag full of trash just from your room." Max looked around the once dirty room. Had his carpet always been that color?

"We even got rid of the gum stuck to the floor," Said Meg, casually pointing to where it had been, "Doesn't look like it had been there at all now."

"Wow, that's good. That's good." he repeated, not knowing what to say.

"Well I need to go." Said Meg, looking at Max. He did nothing for a moment, then remembered he had to pay her. She took the money and looked at it, not amused. Reaching up, Anna grabbed the money from Meg's hand, counting it. Then she looked up at her uncle.

"Maxwell," She said, using the name he hated so much, "don't be so cheap." Max gaped at her, frowning.

"Cheap?! I'm not cheap." He said, looking from Anna to Meg. Meg kept silent.

"Yes, you are. She cleaned your room, that alone is worth how much you just gave her. Then she made diner, and played with me, and-"

"I get it." interrupted Max. He looked at Meg, "How much did you pay her to say that?" He joked, but Meg didn't realize that and shook her head.

"I didn't pay her." she assured him, fidgeting with her hands.

"I know. I was joking."

"Oh." She chuckled nervously.

Anna was still staring at Max harshly, arms folded over her chest. With great reluctance, he drew some more money from his pocket and handed it to the baby-sitter. "But you better come back." He warned.

"No problem." She smiled and grabbed her coat. "You know my number." She said, then out the door she went.

"Meg is sooo much fun!" exclaimed Anna, twirling around in a circle. Max shuffled into his room to take another look at its cleanliness. With how good a job she did, Max was surprised she even had time to play with Anna. "She didn't touch the bathroom, though." explained Anna, skipping into the room behind him. .

Max snorted "I wouldn't touch the bathroom." Anna giggled and sat on the bed, a yawn escaping her lips. "Okay, time for bed. Or back to bed in your case." He said and grabbed for his sweat pants. As the summer got hotter, the harder it was for Max to sleep in his sweats and T-shirt. But he didn't dare sleep in the same bed as Anna with only his boxers on. As he went to the bathroom to change he mumbled something about getting the hammock clean.

When he came back, Anna was tucked in bed, blanky held tightly in her arms. Max crawled in next to her and was almost asleep when he heard Anna suddenly asked, "So what's a child molester?"

"Go to sleep, Annie." He said, and closed his eyes.

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Thanks, all, for the reviews so far. My head is getting so big I can't fit it through the door! Joking, joking, I remain humble. But that shouldn't stop you, keep up the reviews!!


	7. Fixing a Hole

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**1I had trouble with this chapter, guys, so it might suck. I wanted to get right in with the drama but I needed more set up, so the real drama wont be until the next chapter.**

**Thanks for all who reviewed! I love you all.**

Across the Universe  
Two Children, No Parents  
Chapter 7: Fixing a Hole

Max rushed to his car with a bag load of groceries in one hand, pulling short little Anna along with his other. The little girl danced around in the rain as he frantically searched his pockets for his car key. Unlocking the door, Annie got in the back seat and Max rushed to stuff the bags in the trunk. Once finally inside, Max ruffled his hair, trying to shake the water from his blonde locks. He groaned outwardly and started the engine, pulling out of the parking lot. "Gah, I'm soaked!" He complained and turned on the radio for the weather reports.

"Me too!" giggled Anna, far more delighted then her uncle. Max smiled as he looked at the rearview mirror to Anna, remembering back when he loved the rain, too. Unfortunately, all he could think about was how he didn't want to get sick from it, and couldn't wait to get home to change into dry clothe.

When they got home, Anna perched herself on the couch's back, with new dry clothe on, looking out at the rainy city. Everything looked so dreary to Max. It had been raining all day. The city was grey, the clouds were grey and there seemed to be no signs of it letting up. Anna didn't seem too upset by it, though. Rather, she seemed in a positively good mood, which almost bothered him. "Don't you know you're supposed to be depressed when it rains." he said after watching her a few minutes. She turned to look at him, a clam smile on her face.

"not-ah! Rain is romantic." She said, and let out a happy sigh. Max cocked an eyebrow and took a seat next to his niece. She willingly embraced him and let her head rest against his chest.

"Damn it's cold in here." Max commented, watching as Goosebumps formed on his arms. Anna tucked in her legs as if him saying that had made it even colder. Reaching over Anna, Max grabbed a blanket that was resting on the arm of the couch. He fluffed it out and pulled it over the both of them, tucking it in at certain places to keep in the heat.

"Uncle Max?" Said Anna, after they had been sitting there for a while. "Will you tell me a story?"

"Aw Annie, I'm no good at that story-telling shit."

"Please?" she begged, "you're supposed to tell stories on rainy days."

Max thought about it, but all he could come up with were depressing war stories that went well with these sort of dreary days, but were not appropriate for little girls. Especially ones as cute as Anna. Thinking harder, he finally came up with a little rhyme that Lucy used to tell to Julia. Max thought it was kind of dumb at the time, but it seemed to fit the occasion.

"Okay, I got one" He said, and Anna readjusted herself until she was comfortable. Then Max started, _"Desmond has a barrow in the market place…" _

Just as he had finished his rhyme-story-thing the phone began to ring. Not really wanting to get up from his nice warm spot next to Anna, he contemplated just letting it ring. But something urged Max to answer it, so he got up and lumbered over to the phone. "Ello?" He said.

"Hey Max, it's Jude." Said the familiar voice on the other end.

Max cupped his hand over the bottom end of the phone and called Anna, saying, "It's your dad." Immediately, Anna rose from the couch and raced across the (3) feet of living room and into the kitchen. "Jude! What's up."

"…I'm just callin' to say we'll be home earlier then we thought." Said Jude, sounding confused on the other end. "An' Lucy wants to talk to Anna."

"Sure. Did your art thingy go okay?"

"No, not really. That's why we're comin' home early." There was a deep breath on the other end, then, "Are you feelin' okay, Max?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No, no reason. I'm gonna let Lucy get the phone now."

"Okay, lemme talk to her first then I'll give it to Anna." Max said. Jude said goodbye to Max and there was silence before he heard his sister's voice on the other end.

"How're you doing Max?" Said Lucy cheerfully.

"Fine." He said. Anna came forward and tugged on him, wanting to talk to her mom. "And Annie's fine too." He said, keeping her away from him with one hand as she struggled to grab the phone from him. He turned away from her, wrapping the cord around him in the process.

"Maxwell," scolded Anna, still concentrating on getting the phone from him, "come on! Give me the phone!"

Max smiled mischievously. "Except, she keeps saying my full name," He said to Lucy, "and I might not let her talk to you if she keeps doing that."

"No!" squealed Anna, who was on the verge of laughing, and persisted to tug on him. "Give me the phone, I want to tell mom about your eccentric behavior."

Max gave Anna a look that said 'what the hell?' and peeled the phone cord over his body so that he wasn't wrapped up in it anymore. "And why do you teach this kid so many big words, anyway? Yesterday she told me I had a Pogostick-itive or something-"

"Prerogative." smirked Anna

"Anyway, I've tried to learn her goodlyer but she doesn't listen to me." He joked. Lucy laughed lightheartedly.

"Sounds like you two are having fun."

Max smiled, looking at Anna as her mother said those words. They really were having fun, weren't they. "Yeah. Yeah I guess we are." He said, and kept the smile on his face.

"Uh, Max?" Said Lucy after she noticed her brother wasn't saying anything. "Can I talk to Anna?"

"What? Oh yeah sure, sure, here." He handed the phone to Anna, who had given up on trying to steal it away from him.

"Mommy!" She giggled delightedly, bouncing up and down. Max put a hand on her head to stop her.

"How are you, babe" Are you feeling okay? Is Max taking care of you? You're eating healthy, right?"

"I'm fine, mom. Everything's okay-dokie." She glanced at Max for a brief second, then whispered into the phone, pretending she didn't want Max to hear, "everything thing except that last one," She said, and smiled deviously up at Max "We go out a lot or have frozen burritos." Then quickly she added, "but we went to the store today and got a lot of good things."

"Yeah like suckers and candy bars" Max interjected loud enough for Lucy to hear. She laughed again and Max could imagine her rolling her eyes at him.

"Well just as long as you're safe. You are safe, aren't you?"

Anna nodded, "mmhmm, Max even got a baby-sitter for work…" She said, leaving her sentence dangling like she wanted to say something about Rose. Now there was a conversation between him and Lucy that he didn't want to relive. Lucky for him, Anna said no more on the subject.

They talked for a few more minutes, mostly exchanges of 'I love you's', then Anna hung up. "They said they'll be home sometime this week." informed Anna as she placed the phone on hook.

"Oh really?" said Max, and took a sip of his Coke that he had gotten from the fridge. Only a few more days left then Anna would be gone. No more toys scattered about the apartment for him to trip over, no more nagging for him to go to the library, No more little giggles, no tiny body to hold at night. It was over, almost a whole month gone just like that.

"Will you miss me uncle Max?" She asked, taking a seat across from him and unwrapping a candy bar that they had gotten from the store.

"Hell yes, what kind of a question is that?" He said in a more serious tone then he meant to.

"Geez, sorry. I was just asking." She stuffed the whole candy bar in her mouth at once. Max chuckled.

"So you have picked up a few habits here after all."

Anna frowned at him, trying to make a serious, scolding face, but failed when she couldn't even chew with her mouth closed because it was filled to the brim with chocolate bar. Max made a deep throaty laugh, and choked on his soda because of it.

"On't waf awt mea."

Max put a hand to his ear, mockingly pretending like he couldn't hear. "I-I'm sorry. What was that?" He said, grinning madly "I didn't quit catch that, could you say again?"

Anna swallowed her chewed up candy, taking extra time to get it all down. "I said, don't laugh at me."

"Why not?" He laughed, pointing a finger at her, "Oh look! I just did it again." He said, provoking her with a haughty smirk. But instead of going after him like he thought she would, Anna grabbed his Coke bottle and ran through the bathroom to the bedroom.

"Hey!" He cried, getting up and running after her. He found her sitting on the bed, an innocent look on her face, and no Coke bottle in sight. When he crawled on the bed to interrogate the rascal, he suddenly felt something wet from the mattress. "Damn it, did you spill my Coke on the bed?" He said, but really wasn't all that upset. Anna shook her head.

"No, I left your Coke in the bathroom." She said, and Max examined the wet spot a little closer.

"You wet the bed?" He joked in a casual tone.

"No!" spat Anna defensively.

"Sure sure." He crawled further onto the bed and sniffed the damp part of the mattress when a cold, wet substance hit the top of his head. He looked up to where he had felt it, and another drop hit his eye. "Crap." He said when he realized the roof was leaking right onto the bed. "I thought I fixed that."

"See? I told you I didn't do it!" She squealed.

"Well come on." He said, hopping off the bed and grabbing his shoes that were by the door.

Anna mimicked him and grabbed her owns shoes, still soaked from last time they went out, and grabbed his hat too, placing it on her head. "Where are we going?'

"I'm not gonna sleep like that, we gotta go get some stuff to plug it." He headed out the door and made quick work of the stairs.

"Why not just use gum?" She called after him, trying to keep up. Max stopped and grinned at her. That hat was way too big for her.

"Ah, but I already tried that last time it rained. And as you can plainly see, it didn't work. Now come on"

It took them a long time at the store getting what they needed, considering Max had no idea what he needed. He had learned a lot of thing in 'Nam that he didn't know before. Fixing a roof wasn't one of them. By they had gotten what they had come for, the rain had let up to just a sprinkle.

When they had gone to the store, they had to pass by the docks, and when Max saw that it wasn't raining hardly he thought it would be fun to show Anna the place as well. If Jude and Lucy hadn't shown her already. "Ever been here, Annie?" He asked as he opened the car door for her. She stepped outside and instantly pulled her coat closer to herself to keep the cold from penetrating her skin. Her breath was a visible cloud of smoke.

"No." she said simply.

"This is where your dad and mom fell in love." He said, wondering why they had never brought her here and if it was a mistake to bring her himself. He turned and walked to the picture of Lucy. Anna followed. "Your dad drew this." He said. Anna lifted Max's hat that she had on so that she could see better.

"That's momma?" She said, and reached out to touch it.

"Yup."

"She's so pretty." she said as she admired it. Once she took her eyes off of the drawing she looked at Max, who was staring at it with foggy blue eyes that seemed to glow from the fog that had come with the rain. He didn't even notice Anna staring at him, he just kept on staring at the drawing, lost in thought.

"Max?" She said, and he immediately locked his gaze to her. She flinched a little at his sudden reaction and his hat fell over her eyes. She had to readjust it again before continuing, "Will you marry me?" The rain started falling harder.

At first, Max was at a loss for words and he had to make sure he had heard his niece correctly. "Huh?"

Anna took of his hat and tucked her hair behind her ears, seemingly embarrassed. She played with the rim of the hat for a brief moment then said, "Will you marry me?" This time he was positive her heard her right. The thought was almost comical and he had to laugh. But when her face didn't soften, he straightened up and chuckled nervously. "Anna," He said almost panicky and using her real name, "I can't marry you, you're my niece, not to mention a million years younger then me."

He could see her choking back tears, and she shoved his hat back on her head, pulling it over her eyes. "Don't you love me, Max?" She said, not using the word 'uncle' like she used to.

"Yeah, baby, I do. But not that kind of…." She was sniffing louder now, her eyes still hidden from him. "Come on Annie," He kneeled down to her level, the wet gravel soaking his pants. He would just have to play along. "I'll marry you." He took his hat off her head and sat it on the ground. "When you get older." Taking her cheek in his hand, he pulled her so that she had to look at him. "Just enjoy being a kid, first, Annie. Then we can have a big wedding, you can wear a pretty dress, and I'll carry down the isle."

"Really?" She sniffed.

"Yeah." He said, giving her a charming smile, and she hugged him tightly. "We can even practice now." He grabbed his hat from the floor and put it on his head. With a small grunt, he literally swept Anna off her feet and carried her to the car bridal style. By this time it was raining heavily again and when they got home both of them were sneezing frequently.

* * *

The rain never stopped that week, and Annie and Max where confined to playing cards most of the time.

Max's mind was concentrating so hard on the crappy cards he had in his hands that he jumped when he heard knocking on the door. Annie looked up from her hand, too, like someone was going to pop in suddenly. Grunting, Max unfolded his legs and climbed off the bed.

"It's your turn." stated Annie.

"Uh..Got any eights?" he asked as he took one last glance at his cards.

"Go fish."

Max rolled his eyes, "of course." He said, and grabbed a card, tossing it into his pile of other crappy cards before answering the door.

"Got any tens?" Max heard Annie say as he made his way to the living room.

"No. Go fish." hollered Max, and opened the door. "hey Rose, Meggie's not here yet, so we'll have to wait for a few." he lead Rose into the living room and took her coat that was damp.

"So it's Meggie now is it?" She said, and eased onto the couch. Max just shrugged.

Just then Annie appeared, holding her hand of cards. Her face dropped when she saw Rose, who ignored her.

"It's Meggie and Annie, but only Rose. Just Rose." Reaching for her coat pocket, she pulled out a cigarette and light it with a match. Max rubbed the back of his neck, his hands running through his stiff hair.

"Don't do that in here, Rose…" He said hesitantly, eyeing Annie.

"Why not? Afraid the little girl will tell on you?" She said with dripping sarcasm, and Max guessed a private conversation was about to ensue.

"Annie, go the bedroom. Me and Rose have to talk alone."

"Fine." Whined Anna, throwing her hands up in the air and drug herself back to where she had come.

Max waited until the door was closed to address Rose. "Don't be such a prick, Rose, don't come with a stick shoved up your ass."

"I made a lot of sacrifices for you Maxwell,"

"Don't call me that-"

"and I expect to be treated a little better."

He sighed inwardly. "What do you want from me? I got a eight year old who needs someone to take care of her for a while. Is it too much to ask to put out a damn cigarette?"

"That's not the point, Max. I'm your girlfriend. Not Anna, not the babysitter. You said you changed, but you haven't." She waved the cigarette around, too worked up to even take puff.

"I can't believe this." He said, tapping his foot on the floor in frustration. "you're being threatened by a little girl? She's not even my daughter, she'll be gone in a few days."

"And the babysitter?"

"Who gives a shit." Max leaned down and tried to kiss her lightly on the neck. She turned away.

"I don't think you really love me Max."

Irritated, Max stood up straight again and pointed in the direction of the door. "I didn't even want her here, Rose. She just showed up."

Rose looked sadly up at him, eyes shining from the tears forming in her eyes. "But do I mean more to you?"

"Yes!" He shouted, "You fucking mean more to me." He wasn't sure why he was getting so upset. But something inside of him was irked by her selfish attitude. "I didn't even want Annie the fuck here." he said, angrier this time. Not even realizing her was shouting, he continued. "She's just a fucking little girl. Not my girlfriend, not my wife, she's not even my damn kid. I don't even like her here!" He was breathing deeply, not even really understanding what he just said. A knock came from the outside. He opened the door.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Asked a wet Meg. She held an umbrella in one hand and a bag in the other.

"No." he said and opened the door, avoiding eye contact with her. after Grabbing his hat off the door he said, "I'll be back late. Make sure Annie gets to sleep." Rose stood up and followed Max.

"Sure thing!" chimed the babysitter, oblivious to what had just gone on.

In a rush, Max was out the door, not even bothering to say goodbye to Anna. It wouldn't have mattered away, because she was too busy crying behind the door to care.

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**I don't know if that argument was forced, but I'm too worn out with this chapter to worry about it. Critic greatly appreciated, all reviews are loved to the most-ut!**


	8. When I Get Home

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So sorry peoples. I thought I'd have this up sooner, then I remembered I don't do so well writing on the weekends. It's pretty long at least.

**ALSO! Supper uber congrats to everyone! The ATU fiction has over 100 stories! Yay!! Happy 100 everyone!**

**Thanks to all my wonderful reviews (you know who you are) I love you so. Oh! By the way, I finally figured out how to change it so that anonymous readers can review, so you can do that now if you aren't signed up. Please just don't flame and run though, that's just mean. At least tell me why you think the story sucks and so on. :D**

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Across The Universe  
Two Children, No Parents  
Chapter 8: When I Get Home

Max breathed deeply, his arms outstretched and pushing him up, supporting his weight as he hovered over Rose. He leaned down and gave her another kiss on the neck, trailing down to lower, softer areas.

"Do you love me Max?" Rose asked, running her fingers through his shaggy hair.

"Yeah babe." He replied distractively.

"Really?"

Max stopped what he was doing, sighed lightly, and looked up at Rose. "Yes, really. Why?"

Running a smooth finger along his chest, she replied, "You just seem so stiff."

"Well what did you expect?" He said coolly, "you kind of acted like a bitch back there."

Rose huffed. "Me? You were the one yelling at me."

"Look, what does it matter now? We're here, can't we just enjoy this?"

"I just want to know you love me, Maxy." She said and pulled him closer so that she could lock her lips with his.

"I've told you that a million times," he said as he broke away from her, "why are you being so insecure? It's not the old Rose I knew."

"I just want to make sure that-"

Her words were cut off by the sound of the door being violently pushed open as it slammed against the wall. Max shot his head up and froze.

"What the hell you doing with my girl?!" Said the burly figure that stood in the doorway. The man flicked the light on. Max cussed.

"Phil!" gasped a panic-filled Rose. Phil stalked over to them and heaved- not so gently- Max off the bed. He fell to the floor with a thud, knocking into a table stand on the way down. Head pounding, Max quickly tried to get to his feet and grab some pants. It was hard, though, because Phil wasted no time stomping over to Max.

"Get your skinny ass the hell out of here." He yelled as he tried to grab at Max, who avoided it by stumbling to the side. He had his pants all the way up now, and started to crawl away from Phil, until he felt a hand yank him by the arm and pull him to his feet. "I'm gonna teach you to stay away from my girl." He said and pulled his fist back before punching the skinny man square in the eye. Max fell backward and put both hands over his throbbing eye.

"Phil, no!" he heard Rose scream at him, though she didn't do much to stop it.

"I thought you was at work, Rose, what the hell you doing with him?"

"Phil, please calm down." She said and put a hand on him after wrapping some covers around her naked form.

"No." He said, yanking away from her touch, "I Wanna know what the fuck he's doing here."

"I was going to tell you-" She started.

"You didn't tell him?" Squeaked Max, his voice sounding like it was back in puberty.

"I didn't mean for it to get so out of control." sobbed Rose.

"Well too late for that!" said Max, leaning against the door frame.

"Get outta here, Max." Phil warned, grabbing an empty beer bottle from the table stand, and chucking it at him. Luckily Max was out of there as soon as he saw the bruiser reach for it. He didn't turn back, he didn't stop, he just kept on going, all the way to his car. When he realized he left everything (including his car keys) back in Rose's room he cursed. Zipping up his fly and buckling his pants, he started his trek home in the pouring rain.

* * *

New York was a wonderful place for Max if only because of the late night taxi's. He had some spare cash in his pockets and it got him as far as his apartment. He was still soaked, though, from spending a good fifteen minutes walking shirtless and shoe-less in the g rain.

The door to the apartment was unlocked, so Max slipped in quietly so as to not disturb Anna or Meg. He started to the kitchen (to get to the bathroom) but stopped when he saw something quit amusing. Meg was washing a few dishes in the sink, shaking her booty to an unheard tune. She had no shirt on, just a sport bra that made her seem less full then Max guessed she was, and was in sweats.

Max stood at the doorframe and watched her with a smirk on his face. She was actually quit an attractive girl. Skinner then Rose, and had dull, straight brown hair that was up in a pony tail, with bangs that came just above her eyes. She looked like a good girl out of a fifties movie or something. Except for the no shirt thing.

Her little jig lead her to the table to wipe it, and when she looked up and saw Max standing there with his wide grin she gasped. He snickered as she scampered away to the bathroom, reappearing a few moments later with a loose T-shirt on. "Do you always wash dishes at two in the morning with no shirt?" he teased. She was blushing furiously, making her all the more cute to him.

"Do you always stalk girls with no shirts at two in the morning?" she retorted, though meekly, with her head down. She touched her cheek, obviously aware of her flush. When she gazed up at him she noticed his now black eye, and a look of concern washed over her face. "Oh my god, what happened to you?" She said, rushing over to him to get a better look.

"I had a little skirmish with my girlfriend's boyfriend." He said, and winced when the girl went to touch it. "That's hurts, you know."

Meg backed away and went to the bathroom again. Max went to sit down on the couch, his brown corduroy pants still soaking. He sneezed. When she came back out she had a damp cloth in her hand. "Got any ice?" she questioned.

"Freezer."

Meg cracked a few ice cubes from a tray and wrapped them in the cloth, then sat down next to him and tried to press it on his hurt eye. He jerked away and cussed. "Damn it that hurts!"

"Don't be such a weenie." she snickered and attempted to press it against him again, her free hand pushing over his leg. "Oh you're wet." she mused, finally realizing his wet hair and shiny skin.

"Oh really?" He said with dripping sarcasm, then he sneezed once more.

"Well, go get dressed." she commanded.

"Naw, I'm fine." he insisted, and Meg slumped her shoulders.

"So you'll tough it out in wet clothe but wont put a pack of ice on your eye?" She looked at him smugly.

"Well here, give me it." he said, yanking the ice pack from her hand and placing it to his eye, screwing up his face in pain when he did.

She looked at him again, her face unreadable, then said, "How did you get that again?"

"My girlfriend's boyfriend"

"Ah," she said in mock understanding, "that sounds complicated."

"More violent then complicated."

"And you're soaking because…"

"I left all my things at her place. You know, I wasn't really thinking about it at the time. I wasn't like 'oh hey I'm about to get beaten to death by a gorilla but I think I'll grab my wallet and shoes while I'm at it. Oh hey, gorilla, you want a beer? Maybe we can talk politics while you're beating the crap outta me.'" Meg laughed out loud at his antics then covered her mouth to silence herself. "How was she?" He asked her about Anna.

"Fine," she said quietly, "She's a good kid."

"Yeah, she's certainly made life interesting. The only interactions I had with kids before her - like real, no relative kids- were the kids we'd see in Vietnam. They-" He cut his own words short and looked away.

"they…" She prompted gently.

"Naw, never mind, I don't need to be talking about shit like that."

"It's okay to talk about it." She said and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. He almost expected sparks to fly out of his shoulder from her touch on his wet skin. It made him nervous.

"If I ever have kids,-if- and there's another war, I will personally drive them to Canada."

Meg laughed airily and took her hand away. "Mmm. My father fought in Vietnam. He went through WW two, too. He, he survived the first one, but he never made it through the second."

"I'm sorry." he said, thinking maybe he was more sorry about the absence of her hand then what she had just said. He mentally shook the thought away.

"Oh don't be. It was just his time to go. I just wish I had spent more time trying to love him, then trying to earn that love back."

"Yeah? I never felt that way about my dad. I knew I could never be him, so I guess I didn't really bother to try to get his approval…Or my mother's, or my uncle's, or…" he joked.

"Well I know one kid who desperately wants her uncle's approval, and love."

"What? Oh Annie? Naw, she doesn't care what I think about her." He chuckled at the statement.

"She may care more then you think." She said rather harshly. Max frowned and set the ice pack down.

"Did she say something to you about me?" He asked, and Meg opened her mouth but only air came out and she closed it again. "If there's something going on with Annie that I don't know about, you need to tell me, Meg."

"She made me promise not to tell." She said, her leg bouncing up and down rapidly and nervously.

"Meg…" He warned and she jerked her head towards him so suddenly it made him jump.

"She overheard you out in the living room "talking" to Rose."

Max thought back and winced at the memory. "Shit, she heard that?"

"The whole city could hear you, Max."

"You too?"

"Yeah, I didn't think it was any of my business but when I saw Annie crying-"

"She was crying?" Meg nodded and Max rose from the couch to head to the bedroom before she stopped him by grabbing his hand. "I gotta go apologize."

"No, just let her sleep. It's too late to have an intelligent conversation tonight. You can apologize in the morning."

Max took on last regretful glance at the door and hesitantly sat back down again. "Yeah, yeah I guess it is kind of late. God, I should get you home." He smiled, but it shrunk when he thought about his car back at Rose's place.

"I have my own car." She reminded him, figuring out what he was thinking.

"Should you really be driving this late, and in the rain? It's pretty slick."

"I'll be fine."

"Why don't you just stay the night. The couch is… fairly comfortable."

Meg thought a bout it for a moment, probably thinking about how tired she was and nodded. "Alright."

"Cool" He said, and snuck into the bedroom to grab some blankets. His eyes stopped over Anna's sleeping form and he bit his lip, wanting to wake her up so that he could apologize. She looked so peaceful there and Max saw that Meg was right, he'd do it tomorrow. He took some blankets and went back out to the living room.

"Thanks." Meg said, smiling gently at him.

"No prob." he said and kissed her gently on the lips before causally sauntering to his room, thumbs hanging loosely in his soaked pockets.

* * *

"Meg. Meg, wake up!" Called Max, rushing out to the living room, a blue rode around his waist. He nudged the girl sleeping on his couch and she rolled over, eyes heavy from sleep.

"Max?" She asked, only half awake.

"Annie's gone!" He said frantically, his hands nervously fiddling with each other and his eyes darting all over the place. Immediately Meg sat up erect, panic sweeping over here.

"What happened?" She asked quickly.

"I-I woke up and she was just gone. She must have snuck out early this morning."

"I didn't hear anything." Said Meg, trying to keep clam.

"We need to find her!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

"hold on, I need to get dressed"

"No time!" he said impatiently and yanked her out the door in barley enough time for her to grab her keys. As he was halfway down the stairs he stopped suddenly, cussed, and ran back up the stairs.

"What is it?"

Max rushed past her as she asked. "I forgot something," he called, not stopping, "go start the car, and I'll be there in a sec'." He opened the apartment door (which he forgot to lock) and raced to the bathroom to grab his morning medication. No matter how badly in danger Annie might have been at that moment, Max would be in worse condition if he didn't take his meds. And he would be of no use to Annie then. His cupboard was full of little orange bottles, most of which he had obtained after Vietnam, and he shakily reached for the one he needed, knocking a few over in the process.

Reaching down to grab a bottle that had fallen into the trash, his eyes caught a glimpse of something bright and colorful. It took his brain a moment to register the thought, and then he grabbed for what he saw, on a piece of paper. Looking at it, his heart stopped.

Little Anna had drawn a picture. Max guessed it was the one she had been working on all month; it was so carefully crafted. And not half bad for an eight-year-old.

The drawing was of Max, his blue eyes the most prominent in the picture, and of Anna, who was wearing what looked like a wedding dress. Even to Max's untrained eye, it seemed as if Annie had drawn herself in the picture after she had finished Max.

'_She must have planned on asking me to marry her awhile ago_.' He thought as he took a seat on the toilet to examine the picture further. He was beginning to feel very sick to his stomach now, and he felt an even stronger emergency to find her. Yet he couldn't bring himself to move. He could just sit there, staring at the picture Anna had worked so hard on for so long. He felt a lump in this throat forming, something he had not felt in a long time. As his chest heaved to control the emotion, a single tear escaped his eye and rolled down his cheek, until it landed on the paper.

"Max."

Max looked up and saw Meg standing in the doorway. "Shit," He muttered, looking away from her to hide his face. When he looked back his eyes were clear.

"What's that?"

Max handed her the drawing and she put a hand over her mouth. "We have to find her." Max said in the most serious voice she had heard him talk with.

"We will." She said, and handed the paper back to him. He dropped it off in his room and hurried once more down the stairs, skipping a few steps as he went and flicking his head back to make sure Meg was keeping up with him. Max crammed himself into Meg's little car and the two took off down the road.

"Where would she be?" Asked Meg, her eye occasionally glancing off the pavement and onto a worried Max.

Max tossed his head back and thought. "The library." He said a moment later in a hopeful tone "She might be there." Meg pushed the peddle down harder and Max kept his eyes glued to the streets for any sign of a little girl, wondering the street of New York City, alone. In the rain. He tapped his fingers on his knee nervously.

When they got to the library, Max was out of the car before Meg was even done parking. He dashed up the stairs, blue robe splaying out behind him as he ran. "Annie?!" he yelled once he was through the door, heads turned in his direction as he called out. "Annie?!"

"Sir, please keep you voice down, this is a library." Said one of the librarians as she walked up to him. Max ignored her and rushed to the kid's place. "Annie?!" he called out again, causing a few disturbed heads to turn and frown at him.

"Sir, please," Begged the librarian. Just then Meg appeared and went to Max's side.

"I'm sorry." She said to the lady clerk, "We're looking for a little girl about eight years old, who has red hair."

"I'm sorry, there haven't been any kids like that that I've seen."

"Annie?!"

"Thank you." She said, and turned to Max. "Max, she's not here, lets go." Grabbing his arm, she pulled him away from the kid's place. "If you see her," She said to the clerk "would you tell her we're looking for her? Tell her to stay here and wait for us. Her name is-"

"Annie?!" Max called from another room.

The lady nodded and Meg dragged Max from the library. She had left the car running so they could leave as soon as possible. "Think Max," She said, driving away. "Where else do we look?"

"The park." He said, his leg bouncing nervously like a tick.

They checked the park, various book stores, and any place else Max could think of, all with the same empty results. As they were heading back to the library to check again, Max suddenly sprang up in his seat. "The docks!" he exclaimed, smacking his forehead. How could he be so dense?

Meg made a quick turn and drove off towards the docks. They parked as close as they could and then Max quickly climbed out, his face immediately getting soaked by the rain. It wasn't pouring as hard as the previous night, but it was enough to make Max cold and miserable.

Relief finally over took him as he saw a little figure cover by an umbrella, sitting at the edge of the water. . It had to be Anna. "Annie!" He called, and much to his delight the figure moved and looked in Max's direction. Much to its dismay, however, the little girl made no attempts to move. Max wearily made his way over to her, Meg staying behind, just watching. He fell to his knees beside Anna. "I was so worried." he said over the rain. The waves of the water crashed violently against the edge of the land.

"Go away." cried Anna, her words hitting Max like a thousand bullets.

"No Annie," He said, trying to embrace her. She was stiff in his arms but he didn't care. The ground was muddy and his legs were dirty from it, but he didn't care. He was cold and probably going to get sick, but he didn't care. All he cared about was that his little niece was safe. "I'm so sorry." He said in her ear, rocking her back and forth. "I was an ass, Annie, and I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I'll never do anything to hurt you again."

Anna didn't say anything but Max could tell she was crying, even through the rain that camouflaged her tears. "I found your picture Annie." He said, not letting go. "Why did you throw it away?" He knew the answer, but he needed some way to make her talk. Anna backed away from him, her eyes half open, blinking away the rain.

"You don't love me." She blubbered out. "You said you would marry me then you said you didn't want me here. I heard you from the other room talking to Rose…you said you didn't want me here." She ran a hand along her nose and sniffed.

"I know. I know I hurt you. I didn't mean all those things. I was just…I don't know." He looked down, rain dripping from his blonde hair. When he looked back up, Anna was still looking at him, her gold eyes sparkling. They were sad eyes, but the gazed at him with an intensity so deep, that it scared him. "I broke up with Rose, Annie." He said at last, hoping this would make her come home with him.

"You did?"

"Yeah, I did. How to you think I got this?" he smiled and pointed to his bruised eye. "I'm sorry it took me so long to figure out what a jerk she was."

"So you're never going to see her again?" She asked quietly. Max shook his head.

"Nope."

"but you still said all those things." She said, new tears streaming down her face.

Max leaned his head back to the sky and let the rain wash over him. "I know. And I'll never forgive myself. I was just trying to get her to shut up, you know? I didn't even realize what I was saying. I know nothing I do will ever make up for what I said, but…I love you Annie. You made me see that life is worth living.

When you left this morning, I didn't know what to do. I thought I might die, I…I felt so helpless. So freaking helpless. And all I could think was 'god I hope I get to see Annie again.' cause I love you Annie, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

That was all it took for Annie. She smiled, and leapt into his arms. "Oh…Uncle Max!" He hugged her back tightly.

"Uh… Annie?" said Max after a moment. Annie leaned back from her uncle, a questioning look on her face. "Can we go home, I'm freezing." Annie giggled and followed Max to the car, giving Meg a hug before climbing in.

As they were driving down the rode, Max said, "As much as I hate to do this, you gotta drop me off at Rose's so I can get my car." As he looked into the rearview mirror he could see Annie sink in her chair.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Asked Meg.

"Yeah, I gotta. I left my wallet there too. Better go get it before she throws it out, like last time."

Meg let out a snort.

"What?"

"Oh nothing."

Sinking back into his seat, Max gave Meg one last quizzical look before rolling his eyes and turning away. A few minutes later, they were at Rose's apartment. "Be back in a sec." He said before hesitantly getting out of the car and making his way up to her room. Surprisingly, Phil wasn't there.

"He's at work." She scowled, letting him in. Max's eyes darted around the room in paranoia until they landed on his belongings that were piled into one corner of the room, stuffed in a black garbage bag.

"You don't waste a minute, do you?" he mused, and grabbed the bag, throwing it over his shoulder. She dangled his car key in front of him, which he quickly grabbed before she decided to do something with it.

"Your eye going to be okay?"

"My eye will be fine."

"And your pride?" She said haughtily. Max looked at her.

"I got shot, Rose. Right here," he pressed his hand on his stomach. "when I fell down my head bashed against a rock. The doctors say that if I hand landed the wrong way I would have been seriously disabled. Like, mentally retarded." Rose just looked at him with an eyebrow raised, probably wondering what this had to do with his eye. Max grinned playfully.

"I'm starting to think I was retarded, dating you, and it took breaking up with you to heal me."

"Fuck you."

Max blew her a fake kiss. "In your dreams baby."

* * *

"So is Meg coming back to the apartment?" Asked Annie, who had wanted to ride with Max in his car.

"Yeah, for a while, just to get dressed."

There was a moment of silence, then, "Do you like her?"

"Yeah I like her." He said, looking at Annie through the rearview mirror.

"No! I mean _like_ like." Her face was in total seriousness, not a hint of joking in her voice.

"What? No, I mean, jeez Annie I hardly know her."

"So? You two are perfect together."

"Annie," He said, eyes fixed on her through the mirror. "don't start playing match maker with me. Besides, I thought you wanted to marry me."

Annie fidgeted in her seat. "Well I guess. It's just, you two are so perfect!" She repeated, her voice preppy and excited.

Max chuckled. "Well, maybe she is sorta cute, and funny. But not as much as me."

"See, I told you."

"But you don't dare say that I said that to her, got it?"

Annie looked away.

"Hey! I swear if you tell her I'll have your grounded for a month. Someway, somehow."

"Fine." Anna sunk into her seat, shoulders drooping. "I thought you were fun uncle Max." She mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear.

"Hey," He said, looking back at her. "I am fun. I am the God of fun, among other things. I-" Max stopped mid-sentence to jerk his steering wheel to the right, trying to avoid a sudden pedestrian. Anna screamed and buried her face in her hands, while Max yelled a few profanities. He tried to straighten the wheel, and when he was sure he was out of harms way, pulled over.

For a few seconds, he sat there, heaving in breaths. Then he turned to see if Anna was alright. She still had her face behind her hands and her arms were shaking. "Are you okay, Annie?" He positioned himself so that he could see Anna easier. At first she didn't do anything, and Max was beginning to worry that something had happened to her. Then a slow nod. Max let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and sat back in his seat again. "I almost fucking killed that guy." he whispered to himself, voice trembling. He knew he should go back and see if the guy was alright, to make sure he was okay, but he couldn't. His mind was thrown for a loop and he couldn't think straight. Not knowing what else to do, he reached shakily for the clutch and started to drive home.

When he exited the car at his apartment, Meg rushed out to hear what had happened. Max didn't reply, though, as he slowly made his way up the stairs. Meg took Anna by the hand and followed him.

When he sat on the bed, still not a word came from his lips. He was like a statue. He felt the bed sink lower, but he made no acknowledgements to Meg's presence. He could hear her, he could even feel her hand on his shoulder, but he couldn't do anything about it. He was frozen in fear and memory. And as Anna tried to shake him to his senses, he didn't see her anymore. All he could see was the fear on that persons face and how he had once vowed to never see that fear again.

* * *

**I tried to think of better words to describe this part, but I couldn't. (cries) I hope it makes sense. Also, The line about driving his kids to Canada is from a book called Flashback. So someone actually said that once. Now, go review!!**


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